Chasing Lily
by SiriuslyPsychic
Summary: Harry Potter has struggled through life, always asking himself one question. Why me? Until recently, he had never known why the Dark Lord had attempted to murder him as a baby. But, now that the answer has been provided, he has a new question. How did his parents end up married, when Lily Evans had made her feelings towards James Potter so very clear? Disclaimer: I'm not JKR... :C
1. Prologue: Explaining to Harry

"Professor? Can I ask you something?"

"Harry, I'm not a professor anymore."

"Yes, I know. I... I don't know why I keep calling you that."

"That's alright, what was your question?"

"Well, you were one of my dad's best friends, right?"

The man, his frayed robes blowing around him. "... Right..."

"Can you tell me... How did my parents fall in love, if they hated each other, Lupin?"

"Harry, I would first like you to understand that they did not hate each other. James chased Lily for years before she said yes."

Harry prompted, "Yes, but my mother hated him, didn't she?"

Lupin hesitated before answering. "Your mother had no intentions of changing her first impression of your father, which blinded her to the changes that James was making in himself for her until the change was so evident that she would be blind not to see it."

"Tell me more, please," begged the boy, now sixteen years old.

"You look so much like your father, you you have your mother's eyes."

"I've been told. But please, there are so many holes in the story, please Lupin."

The man, Lupin, closed his eyes. "You may want to sit down, it's a long story."


	2. September First, 1971

To James Potter, there was nothing more thrilling than being James Potter. That is, until he boarded the Hogwarts Express on September first.

To him, life was one big game, filled with jokes and trickery and revenge. He had grown up delicately perfecting his pranks, meticulously plotting his first real prank, to take place at Hogwarts. All of the trouble he had caused in the past, the things that made his mother complain that he was turning her hair grey with overwork, that was only the beginning. The training, as he liked to think of it.

September first came, and James woke up even earlier than normal. Usually, by the time he was out of bed, his parents were already gone, researching and catching Dark Wizards. Today, however, he opened his door to see his parents shuffling about drearily.

"Hello, Mum, Dad, lovely morning!" he called cheerfully down the hall. Both his parents' heads snapped up.

Dorea, James' mother, gasped. "James, what in Merlin's beard are you doing out of bed? It's five o'clock in the morning!"

James haughtily pointed out, "You lot are up." At his mother's stern scowl, he added, slightly on the defensive side, "It's September first."

James' father, Charlus, grinned. "Hoping to meet a girl, run off, get married, and leave your parents all by their lonesome?"

"No, Dad, I don't want to get married. That's nasty to think about."

His mother raised her eyebrows. "Oh? What's so nasty about it?"

James smirked. "I'd have to become responsible."

"Jamsie, someday, you might just do that for the one woman you truly love," Mr. Potter muttered, ruffling James' already messy hair. "It's a good tip." James was certain that his mother had not heard that last one for a reason.

Suddenly he became interested, because it was obviously a subject forbidden with his mother. "Really? What other tips have you that dearest mum wouldn't be pleased to hear?"

Charlus laughed softly. "Come to me when you've found a girl, then we'll talk."

James walked back to his room, filled with a newfound determination to find a girl, just so that he may learn these secrets that were obviously not to be spoken of when his mother was present.

Back in his room, James threw on some Muggle clothes- his parents, being aurors, knew how to dress incognito, and James had picked up some tips. He didn't want to wear Wizarding robes, not just yet. This morning, while crisp, was already sunny and golden. Like an apple. So he simply donned denim jeans and a red t-shirt. He brushed his teeth but didn't bother with his hair. He liked it the way it was; wild.

His parents left shortly, dropping him at Kings Cross Station three hours early. He milled around, casually directing his trolley into the brick barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

To his shock, there were people there already. A greasy boy standing with his irate looking parents, a red headed girl, obviously muggle-born, arguing softly with her horse sister while her parents stood and watched the commotion with awe, a boy scowling slightly as his parents spoke to him while gesturing toward the boy's younger brother, and scattered older looking students who were already loading up onto the train.

James steered his trolley around in lazy circles, having nothing better to do. He did this for a long time, eyes closed behind his circular glasses.

James felt his trolley collide against something very solid, and was knocked back from the force of it. His trolley skidded away, his owl screeching, as he slid backwards on the ground and cursed under his breath.

"What're you running in circles like a crazy lunatic for?" snapped the boy who had been unhappy with whatever his parents were saying.

"I'm bored. Train doesn't leave for another hour at least, nothing else to do."

The boy stared at him. "How long've you been doing that? It's eight thirty." James blinked before springing to his feet and sprinting after his trolley, which was plowing its way through a crowd of people.

James realised that the boy had followed him. "I'm Sirius by the way, Sirius Black."

"Black? That's my mother's maiden name," James exclaimed.

Sirius sighed. "Well, most pure blood families are related. I'm not surprised. But who's your mum?"

"Dorea, I'm James."

Sirius barked a laugh as they hoisted their trunks onto the rack above them. "She's one of the ones my mum blasted off. Married to Charlus Potter, isn't she?"

"... Erm, yeah... What is this blasting off business?"

"Oh, we have this tapestry. Hate it. But my mum puts a burn hole in anyone's face she wants. People she sees as blood traitors." He half-heartedly forced a cynical laugh when he said it. "She's been considering blasting me off, I've seen her raise and lower her wand enough times."

James pondered it. "My mum loves Muggle stuff. Makes sense."

James plopped himself down in the middle seat. Sirius lounged on the seat across from him.

"Mind if we sit here?" a voice asked timidly. "Nowhere else to go that seems pleasant..." James looked up. Two boys, one plump and watery eyed, the other thin and haggard looking, were standing at the door.

"Oh yeah. I'm James Potter, this is Sirius Black. Come join me and my merry men."

The skinny one, the one who had spoken, cracked a smile that made his depressed features seem handsome and he said, "Remus Lupin, this is Peter Pettigrew."

They seated themselves by the door and James launched a conversation involving Quidditch. During their discussion, another person entered the compartment without asking.

It was the little red head Muggle-born he had seen earlier. "You know, I don't usually allow women to join the merry men of Robin Hood, but you're welcome to be my Maid Marion," James flirted shamelessly. The girl turned towards him only to glower at him briefly. He noticed her eyes. Very green eyes they were.

"Lighten up will you? I was only joking... James Potter, M'LADY," he teased, bowing towards her ever so slightly in his seat. Seeing as she had sat next to him, he couldn't bow too much or he would be invading her space.

The girl scowled. "Evans."

Sirius piped up. "Sirius Black. And isn't Evan a boy's name?"

She scoffed, "It's my last name, dolt."

"Remus. Lupin, and it would be nice if you could share your first name with us." The girl's expression softened at his politeness. Only then did James realise that there were thin, glistening tear tracks running down her cheeks.

"Lily," she murmured.

James straightened up. "Well, Lily, it's obvious that you've been crying. Care to share why?" Lily glared at James.

"It's none of your business, you cad, so just leave me alone," she snapped. James raised his eyebrows at her, but rekindled the conversation about Quidditch and soon forgot about Lily.

The greasy boy shortly thereafter began poking his slimy nose into every compartment, finally stopping at James'.

He entered,_ the nerve of him_, and sat down across from Lily. Though James, due to her snobbish manners, had decided to call her Evans instead.

James continued to listen, though he had one ear tuned in to the other conversation.

"I don't want to talk to you," snapped Lily, and it was obvious from her voice that she had continued to cry.

"Why not?" demanded the newcomer.

Evans replied, "Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore." _A letter from Dumbledore_?

Greasy newcomer scoffed, "So what?" _Git._

Evans shot him a spiteful glance. "So she's my sister!"

"So? She's only a-" James noticed how the prat caught himself, though Evans, too busy trying to hide the fact that she was wiping tears from her eyes, did not. "But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

Evans chanced a smile as she nodded meekly.

The git continued, "You'd better be in Slytherin." Their conversation now had James' full attention.

"Slytherin?" Evans jumped, having forgotten that James was there. The prat sneered at him. James pillowed on boldly, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he finished, the last part addressed to Sirius, who was now upside down in his seat.

Sirius stared at his new friend glumly. "My whole family have been in Slytherin," he moped.

James gaped. "Blimey! And I thought you seemed alright!"

Brightening greatly, Sirius replied, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James grinned. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad," he added proudly as he wielded a nonexistent sword. For fun, he pointed it at the greasy one, who snorted. "Got a problem with that?" he challenged.

"No," he lied, "if you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius said smugly. James nearly died laughing.

Evans, who had obviously had quite enough, rose. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment," she snapped loftily.

James and Sirius imitated her, "Ooooooo..." James stuck out his foot, but 'Severus', unfortunately, didn't trip.

James hollered, "See ya, Snivellus!" as the glass door slid shut behind them.

James watched eagerly as Evans stepped up to try on the Hat. He was interested, because it hadn't been clear where she belonged on the train. After a minute or so's consideration, the Hat bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius slid up the bench to make room for her, and, though she sat, she firmly crossed her arms and turned her back on him. James heard Snivellus let out a small groan, and James smirked at him, though he had no idea why. Probably because James didn't like him, and he was now disappointed. _It's not like Slytherin would've had her anyways. They don't take Muggle-borns. _After demanding that he be put in Gryffindor, the Hat screamed its choice out to the crowd, and James merrily sauntered down the steps and seated himself on the other side of Evans, just to annoy her.

She scowled down at her plate as she waited for food to come. When it appeared, she carefully chose a small, healthy meal.

James scoffed at her through his shepherds pie. "Pig," she scolded him as she daintily wiped what James had gotten all over the table away. After that, she dropped the soiled napkin into James' lap and snitched his unused one.

Furious, James swallowed, nearly choking himself in the effort. "Why do I have to keep the dirty one?" he whined.

"Because I used it to wipe up what was formerly in your mouth," Evans reasoned. "You can't expect my to wipe my face with _that_."

James grinned. "You can if you like, Evans."

"Shut your face, Potter."

* * *

James was proud of himself. Within his very first week at school, he had already single-handedly gotten himself detention. He had thrown colour change ink pellets at Professor McGonagall during Transfiguration, and each pellet liquified when it found its mark, so the professor was a dripping, furious rainbow after five minutes. He was to spend his detention alone, cleaning the trophies in the trophy room.

He cheerfully bid Sirius, Remus, and Peter good-bye and practically skipped to the trophy room. He winked at McGonagall as he passed her. She pursed her lips and squinted at him.

The caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, scowled at him before thrusting a rag and a squirt bottle at James, who happily took it and set to work.

After about thirty minutes, James came across a peculiar trophy. A Special Award for Service to the School. But that wasn't what was strange about it. What was strange was the name on it.

"Mr. Pringle?" James called, eyes glued to the trophy. Mr. Pringle grunted in response. "Why's the name on this Tom Riddle?"

The caretaker narrowed his eyes at James before answering, "Because he did a Service to the School. Are you thick?"

James chose to ignore that last comment and asked, "But... Isn't he the one they're all calling You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah."

"But he's evil. How did an evil person get an award for _helping_ the school?"

"He caught a murderer. Then he decided that the profession wasn't half bad and started killing, himself. Now get back to work. No more questions."

Two and a half hours later, James trudged up to Gryffindor Tower, his hands and knees aching. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. So he collapsed into one of the squashy armchairs by the fire and fell asleep, lulled by the quiet breathing of whoever was in the chair across from him.

James woke up with sunlight filtering across his face. Finally, it was Saturday. No going to classes today, no sir. Not one single class. James bounded out of his chair. Or at least, he tried to.

His feet were tangled with those of the person in the other chair. When he jumped up, he immediately toppled into the person, causing them to wake up.

James found himself staring into the emerald green eyes of Lily Evans.

Simultaneously, they shouted and James leapt back while Evans shrunk into her chair.

"What're you playing at?" Evans demanded.

"Nothing, I tripped over your feet is all!" protested James. He extended a hand towards her. She hesitated, but took it, and he hoisted her up.

When he let go, she stumbled, her face screwed up in pain.

"My ankle, Potter! You broke it!"

"I did not! If it was broken, we would've heard it crack. It's probably just sprained."

Evans rolled her eyes. "Oh, now I feel better."

James sighed and did what his mother always told him; _when a lady needs your help you give it to her._

"Do you want me to take you to the Hospital Wing?"

"I can do that myself thanks."

James scoffed, "Don't be daft. How're you supposed to make it down five flights of stairs on that?" James gestured at her ankle. "Come now, don't be stubborn, Evans. Let me help you."

Evans scowled at him and bravely attempted a few steps but tipped into James. He caught her easily, seeing how she was so small, and steadied her.

"Put your arm around my shoulders," James ordered. Evans hesitated. "Do you want to get that ankle fixed or not?" She grumbled but slipped her arm over his shoulders, gripping his neck tightly. He cleared his throat and she smiled maliciously as she dug her fingers into his neck harder. James scowled.

"Don't hate me for this, Evans," he warned as he slid his arm around her waist.

"I already hate you so there's a very small chance of me hating you more."

"Why do you hate me?" James exclaimed as they stepped out of the portrait hole.

"Because you're an arrogant toerag."

James scowled as he fished around for another subject. "Ever heard of Quidditch?"

"You were talking about it with the other boys on the train weren't you?"

"Yeah. Know how it's played?"

"I got the idea, yeah. Three Chasers try to score with that whatever it's called-"

"The Quaffle," James snapped.

"Yeah that and the Keeper defends the hoops. The Beaters whack those evil ones that fly around-"

"Bludgers," sighed James.

"And then the Seeker tries to catch the Snitch and end the game."

James was impressed. "You got all this while you were staring out the window crying your eyes out?" Evans pulled a face at him. "What's your favorite?"

"I haven't watched a game, but I like the sound of the Seeker. They have to be light and fast."

James nodded. "I'm going to try out for Chaser next year because Gryffindor's Seeker is in sixth year. Gonna try for Seeker in third year."

Evans looked at him, the slightest trace of awe on her face. "You can fly?"

James stared at her. "You can't?"

"I'm Muggle-born."

"Oh yeah."

"Well good luck anyways. I want to win the House Cup every year. And you're not helping things all that much."

James snorted as they walked down the last flight of stairs. "Yeah well what's life if you can't have fun?"

"I'm just saying that I don't want Gryffindor to lose."

"Yeah, it would suck to lose to Slytherin." Evans glared at him. "Oh that's right. You're all chummy with Snivellus."

"Don't call him that!" screeched Evans.

James yelled back, "I can call him whatever I want!"

"You're a cad, you know that?"

"Merlin, Evans, don't be such a prat!"

"You brainless git!"

James began to retaliate, but the young nurse, Madam Pomfrey, hushed them.

"Sit right here, I'll fix your ankle right up." James started to leave. "Oh no, young man, she can't walk up stairs quite yet."

James grumbled but sat down next to Evans huffily. The force that he sat with caused her to tip over.

James laughed.

Evans smacked the back of his head.

The nurse fixed her ankle right up and told her to just sit down and rest for a bit. Then she told James to be a gentleman and not to call her names.

"But, Madam Pomfrey, I'm not a gentleman!" protested James.

"Too bad. You're to act like one and shower her with compliments while you escort her graciously upstairs," hissed the school healer. James grumbled and stalked over to Evans, who was watching their whispered argument curiously.

James gallantly bowed. "M'lady, I'm to escort you up to the Tower whilst I shower you with compliments because I am a gentleman and that's what gentlemen do." Evans grinned evilly and took his hand. He then offered his arm and slowly accompanied her to Gryffindor Tower.

When they arrived, Sirius was lounging on the couch, awaiting their return. He fell off when he saw Lily Evans on James Potter's arm, her nose in the air, looking very haughty, and James silently escorting her. Once he had seen her to the chair, James plopped down on the couch by Sirius' feet.

"What was that all about, mate?" Sirius asked. "Got yourself a girl already?"

James snorted. Evans shot him a dirty look. "I sprained her ankle. It's not like I want to date her or anything." Sirius raised his eyebrows. James forgot that Evans was there. "I mean, sure she's pretty and smart and generally kind, but she obviously hates me, so I'm just going to hate her back. There's nothing wrong with that!"

Sirius smirked. "Ah, but you know you like her secretly. You are going to get married someday, and then you will live happily ever after for a few years prior to your untimely death," he gasped, bugging his eyes out in an impressive impersonation of one of the teachers that they weren't going to have until third year, the Divination professor, Clarity. James laughed.

"I don't think so," huffed Evans.

"Why? What's wrong with my Inner Eye?"

Evans tossed her curtain of glossy dark red hair. "First of all, you don't have one. Second, I plan to live a long happy life. Third, I do not intend to spend it with Potter."

"Why not?" protested Potter indignantly. "I'm smart, good looking, and funny."

"Funny, you just listed two of those traits in me," countered Evans smugly. James frowned at her, his face reddening slightly. "Good day to you," she said, standing. "That is, unless you bother me," she added as an afterthought before tentatively walking over to the girls' dorm, clutching the railing as she made her way up the stairs.

Sirius watched her go, then turned to James. "She got you, you know. Evans one, Potter zero," he jested.

James rounded on him. "I sprained her ankle!"

"Good point, mate," mused Sirius, "Evans one, James negative one."

James let out an exclamation of anger and surprise, that not being what he had meant at all, and Remus came bounding down the stairs, Peter in tow.

"James, why're you blushing?" accused Remus.

"Am not!"

"Yeah you are!" crowed Peter. "What happened?"

Sirius grinned. "He accidentally complimented Evans!" he gloated vivaciously. James threw a pillow at Sirius, who ducked and dragged James up the stairs.

Sirius heaved James' arm in the direction of a four-posted bed and James fell onto it.

"Truth or Dare, James!"

James narrowed his eyes. "Dare. Don't you know me at all?"

Sirius screwed up his eyes. Remus leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Sirius smiled.

"I dare you... To tell us... The truth about how you feel about Lily Evans."

James glowered at him. "You have to do a dare no matter what!" chorused Peter.

Remus nodded, "He's right."

"I know how to play truth or dare!" snapped James. "Evans is pretty and smart and all that but I do not like her. Happy?"

"No, but I am consoled by the fact that I will be the best man at your wedding," teased Sirius. James stuck his tongue out and flopped down on his four poster bed.

"Can't wait till flag lessons," groaned James.

Remus smirked. "Why, so you can show off for Evans?"

"Argh no! Why are you all so mean to me?" James pouted. The other three laughed.


	3. Pranks, Chess, and Lost Sleep

"Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," chorused the first years, all Gryffindors and Slytherins. The Quidditch referee, Rolanda Hooch, was at least sixty and had a shock of grey hair and the strangest yellow eyes.

"Today is your first flying lesson," she said proudly, staring at all of them. "How many of you know how to fly?"

James bounced up and down, hand flung in the air, making small "ooh, ohh, pick me!" sounds. Sirius, next to him, sniggered. It was almost a perfect imitation of Evans when a teacher asked a question. James' hand quivered.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"I know how to fly, Madam Hooch!" exclaimed James victoriously. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Snivellus whisper something in Evans' ear. Evans chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Well then, you can demonstrate!" proclaimed Madam Hooch. "I expect you know how to-"

James never let her finish. "Up!" he ordered, his right hand held over his broom. The broom shot into his hand with such vigor that he felt a jolt go up his arm.

"Oh well done, Mr. Potter! Can you mount it properly?"

James smirked at Snivellus' shocked, disappointed face. "Yeah, my dad showed me how," he said, swinging his leg over the broom and kicking off hard, his foot making a squelchy noise as it was yanked out of the muddy grass. He soared through the air, his eyes closed, as he relished the admiring gasps from below.

But the gasps turned to screams, and James felt something heavy hit his temple. The last thing he heard was, "You could have killed him!" as he landed with a splashy thud on the ground, before black encroached on his vision.

* * *

James awoke to a blurry landscape staring down at him. Something warm and wet was on his forehead; it made him think of living things. "Why is everything all smudgy?" he asked, struggling greatly to lean back on his elbows.

A shaky laugh came from beside him. "Your glasses, mate," Sirius said, roughly shoving said glasses onto James' nose.

"Ah, don't try to kill my face, Sirius."

Remus cut in darkly, "We were scared that it was already dead, so..."

James slid up into a sitting position. "Yeah, which git tried to murder me?"

Peter readily answered, "The slimeball."

James narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yes, Snivellus. I'm going to kill him-"

"Please don't," scolded a new voice. James looked around to see Evans seated at the foot of his bed.

"First you hate me, then you're waiting around my deathbed? My, Evans, you're bipolar, aren't you?"

Evans snorted, "I'm only here because Sev refused to apologise, so these barbarians dragged me here to apologise for him. So, sorry that my best friend threw a rock at your face and knocked you off your broom." Evans got up, and James felt the end bounce up the slightest bit. "Oh, and you really do fly well."

James grinned after her. "You claim you don't fancy Evans," gloated Remus, "but here you are smiling like a lunatic when she gives you a compliment?" James whacked him over the head but hit Peter instead.

"But she was really mad when Snivellus threw the rock," Peter insisted.

Sirius continued, "Yeah, she screamed when it hit you then shouted her face off at him after it was clear that you were alive. She was all, 'you could've killed him, Sev!' and he was all, 'that was why I threw the rock!' and she kinda flew off the handle." As an afterthought, Sirius added in a musing voice, "Evans looks amazing when she's mad." He winked at James. "You should make her upset more often, mate. I wouldn't mind seeing that every day." Sirius smirked at James, who stuffed the pillow into his friend's face. "Ha! You're JEALOUS. And you're PROTECTIVE." His voice was muffled by the cushiony feathery soft cotton covered pillow.

Peter chimed in, "I'm serious-"

"No you're not!" protested Sirius, shoving the pillow back at Peter. "I am!"

Peter rolled his watery eyes. "My point is, you are positively over the moon for Evans. Just admit it!"

"I will not!" James said stubbornly.

"Ha! You just said you wouldn't admit it!" bragged Sirius.

James replied, "Yeah!"

Remus grinned. "I think what Sirius is getting at is that you're refusing to admit that you like Evans, thus staring that you do fancy her and you don't want to admit it."

"You guys are going to be the death of me," James groaned, flopping back onto his several pillows.

"If we are, then it's going to be quite the party!"

* * *

A few days later, long days that included loud arguments, Madam Pomfrey finally allowed James to leave the Hospital Wing. He exited the hall-like room swaggering, smiling at anyone who passed by. People ran up to him and practically begged to hear what had happened. As such, the story changed erratically, and James discovered that girls loved it if his hair looked as though he had just gotten off a broomstick, so he constantly ran his fingers through his hair, rubbing at the back so that his hair stood up more than usual.

He noticed that, whenever Evans happened to be walking by when he was retelling his epic adventure that involved not only an avalanche of rocks, but several dragons that attempted to eat him at every turn, she came up behind him, stood on tiptoe, and poked her head over his shoulder to give his newfound fans the real version. He found himself tensing whenever she did this, because her chin was pressing into his pressure point. Sirius insisted that it was because of her closeness.

When people heard Evans tell the story, they quickly lost interest in James' account.

James' fame was short-lived.

To get back at Evans, he slipped a piece of paper into he book bag one day as she interrupted. It had a small question.

_WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR?_

_[] RED_

_[] BLUE_

_[] YELLOW_

_[] BLACK_

_[] WHITE_

She found the paper in History of Magic, because she was rummaging in her bag for spare parchment. When she answered, a mushroom cloud of smoke erupted around her. Professor Binns didn't notice the bang or the curly tendrils of smoke dispersing. When it was gone, everything that Lily had with her, other than her person, was a pure, bright white. James watched with delight as she gave a small gasp.

She turned immediately and glared at James. She mouthed, YOU DID THIS. James merely shrugged.

After class, when it was their free period, Evans cornered James and pinned him to a tree outside, wisely staying out of the view of teachers. "You did this."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

James raised his eyebrows. "Because you ruined my story."

Evans laughed, "You mean I revealed the truth in your lies?"

"Precisely." James looked her over, then said, "White looks good on you. White and red don't clash. It would've been horrible if you chose one of the first three."

Evans shrugged. "I especially like the ribbon," he added.

"Ribbon?" Evans exclaimed, "What ribbon?"

"Your hair," James replied hesitantly.

Evans' hand flew to her hair, where there was a white ribbon tying her dark red hair back.

"This wasn't here before. Is this a side effect of your spell? When will it wear off?"

James threw his head back and laughed, which was not the best idea, because his head cracked against the rough bark of the tree. "It'll be gone by dinner, Evans. Merlin's beard, lighten up a bit." Evans let go and stalked away, towards Snivellus, who was waiting by the shore of the Black Lake. James hollered after her, "Tell Snivellus hello for me, will you?" Sirius and Peter doubled over with laughter, but Remus merely smiled.

"Merlin, Remus, you're just like Evans! Live a little!" James teased. Remus clenched his jaw, but nodded and forced a little laugh.

"Hey guys?" Remus asked.

Sirius turned. "Yeah, mate?"

"I need to visit my mother every month. She's ill..." Remus trailed off, gazing at them a little helplessly.

James consoled him, "Of course. Just don't let her keep you too long, okay?" Peter nodded vigorously and Remus chuckled a bit and nodded.

They discussed new pranks. They were planning on doing something overnight, that would affect the whole school. They put their heads together and decided on something that was rather similar to what James had done to Evans.

* * *

The next morning, everyone awoke sleepily and dressed. But James listened victoriously as there were exclaims of surprise all over the castle. The four merrily dressed and waltzed downstairs to eat breakfast.

The Great Hall was an explosion of colour. The Gryffindors were decked in scarlet and gold; Ravenclaws wore bronze and blue; Hufflepuffs favoured clothes of yellow and black; Slytherins were sporting hot pinks and murky browns.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had enlisted the help of the seventh year who had helped James with the questionnaire for Evans. Arthur Weasley had been all too happy to oblige, for the price of four Galleons and everyone was sworn to secrecy. The teachers were all dazzling, wearing sparkling rainbow robes.

Everyone but the Slytherins and a few teachers nearly died laughing. James' favourite was Professor Binns, who was now a semi-transparent glittering motley of bright colors that floated about drearily as if he didn't even notice.

Knowing Professor Binns, he probably didn't.

James enjoyed History of Magic for the first time, seeing as Professor Binns was a ghostly rainbow. And, of course, he droned on and on about Giant Wars, which made it all the more ironic that he looked so interesting.

In Transfiguration, he and the other boys were given detention. Frank Longbottom, their roommate, whispered, "Good luck," as they left the Great Hall to meet Professor McGonagall.

She sent James and Sirius to the forbidden forest with Hagrid, and Peter and Remus were to recopy some old paperwork. As they began to walk away, she called after them, "How long is this going to last?" James couldn't help but grin at her polka-dotted robes, that were once a solid, dark green.

Sirius, laughing, replied, "About a week." The Gryffindors' head of House gasped before ushering them away to their detentions.

James was quite happy with his detention. He liked Hagrid, and it was an adventure quivering to begin. Besides. As long as they were with Hagrid, nothing would hurt them.

"Hagrid, what are we doing in there?" inquired James.

Hagrid replied gruffly, "The centaurs've been complainin' 'bout summat in the woods. Probably just Aragog, we might hafta relocate 'im."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Aragog?"

Hagrid puffed up proudly. "Oh yeah. He's an acromantula, probably the only tamed one in the world. Trained 'im myself, I did."

James gasped and Sirius gasped, "Hagrid, you have an acromantula? They're super rare! How'd you catch it?"

"Catch it? I hatched 'im from an egg, right there in Hogwarts a couple decades ago, in a cupboard. That's how I got expelled, see, they caught me and-"

"And?" James prompted.

"Nah, that's enough, you don't need yoursel' worryin' over nothin'."

Sirius whined, "But we wanna know Hagrid!"

Hagrid scowled, "Quit yer whinin', Black," he said gruffly. But the boys bugged him all the way to the forest, where he finally snapped. "I got caught and they thought that Aragog was the monster."

James' attention was snagged on the word 'monster'. "What monster?"

"The monster in the Chamber o' Secrets, innit? As if. I ain't a Slytherin, no sir."

"Of course you're not. You're too amazing to be a Slytherin!"

"Now, don't you go makin' generalisations.."

"What is the monster, then, Hagrid?" Sirius begged.

"I dunno. Aragog knows, but he won't tell me. I asked loads, to see of they would take me back if I told them what the real monster is. But no, he wouldn't tell me and I got expelled for likin' innerestin' creatures!"

"What blasphemy. So do we get to meet Aragog?"

"No, Potter, you ain't goin' nowhere near 'im. We're jus' goin' to find ou' wha' the centaurs want."

"Darn."

"Maybe someday, James."

James immediately brightened. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. Hold it," he stopped abruptly. "Hello, Bane. You a full member of the herd yet?"

A man with the body of a black stallion proudly puffed his chest out. "Yes, I am. This is my first patrol. I must ask why you have come."

Hagrid replied, "I've come to see wha's been botherin' you so much."

"Aragog lost his wife, Hagrid. He's been setting his spiders on us. Why have you brought your younglings with you on a journey such as this?"

James raised his eyebrows. "We're not his younglings. We got detention," he added smugly.

Bane's brow furrowed. "Detention?"

"Oh yeah, we changed everyone's clothes a certain color. 'Cept Hagrid, cause rainbow wouldn't be too sensible in here," bragged Sirius.

Bane slowly turned to Hagrid. "Did they hit their heads?" Hagrid laughed.

"They're troublemakers is all, Bane. I'm done here, it seems, I'll be back tomorrow to ask Aragog to simmer down a bit."

James turned to Hagrid. "Can we come?"

"No."

As they were walking back, a sudden growling noise made them freeze in their tracks. Two bright eyes reflected Hagrid's lantern. James and Sirius reflexively ducked behind Hagrid. _Good job, James. Big show of Gryffindor courage_. But when the beast snapped its jaws menacingly, James had another think coming. _So what, Hagrid won't die that easy._

The wolf prowled out from the cover of the trees. It's mangled grey coat rippled over thick muscle. Hagrid flung his arms out, his lantern swinging.

The wolf howled, a spine-chilling noise, before it leapt at the gamekeeper.

James braced himself for the worst. But the growls ceased and were replaced by frightened yips. He steeled himself before sticking his head beneath Hagrid's outstretched arm. The wolf had been stopped by a wall. A strong, graceful wall of muscle and fur and horns.

A magnificent stag stood in front of the wolf, almost as if it were challenging it.

The wolf slunk away, softly growling as if it were resentful but had no choice. Hagrid exhaled heavily and strode forward, towards the stag. "Alrigh' ye best be off." The stag melted away.

"Hagrid, what just happened?" demanded Sirius, more than a trace of nervousness in his voice.

Hagrid turned and began to usher them back towards the tiny square of light that was his window.

"Hagrid-" James started as they were shoved past the line of trees.

"There're a few shapeshifters in there. You won't be learnin' 'bout them, there're only a few left. No point in it. Bu' only one good one lef' see, ye just met 'im. Right good of 'im to do that, coulda gotten himself killed." And with that, Hagrid roughly shoved them all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Hagrid, we can walk ourselves," retorted Sirius.

Hagrid snorted. "Obviously, but there's no sayin' where yer headed if I let ye go off on yer own. Only been 'ere a month an' yer already famous."

James smiled. "Yeah, my son's gonna be just like me someday!"

Chuckling, Hagrid asked, "Thinkin' 'bout marriage already?"

"Yeah, he's got his sights set on Lily Evans-" Sirius began before James tackled him. Hagrid was roaring with laughter when he left them at the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Caput Draconis," James addressed her before rounding on Sirius. "Someday, I'm going to kill you for that," he threatened.

"No you won't," Sirius replied, voice brimming with certainty.

James growled, "Oh yeah? How's that?"

Sirius smiled mischievously. "Cuz you love me, that's why." James couldn't think of a comeback, so he blew a raspberry and went to bed.

* * *

"Finally it's Christmas!" James exclaimed. He stretched out across an armchair by the fire. The very same one he had fallen asleep in a few months ago. His feet dangled over one arm, and his head hung upside down over the other. His glasses were falling down his forehead (he never thought that those words would ever be put together in that order, but suddenly, they were.) He was laughing at Sirius, who was impersonating Evans by flipping his shoulder length hair every time James said something even remotely funny.

Just then, the door to the girls' dormitory swung open and they heard a trunk thumping down the stairs. "Well, would you speak of the devil?"

Evans retorted, "I'd rather not talk about you, thanks." Remus spewed his hot coco into the fire and Peter tipped over after jumping in shock. Sirius was obviously trying not to laugh.

"Well, that was hurtful. Where're you going, anyways?" added James, gesturing at her trunk.

Evans tossed her hair, and the four boys stifled their laughter again at the reminder of what Sirius had been doing only moments before. "I'm going home," she snapped, ignoring their expressions.

Sirius' expression turned stony. "Home? Why would you want to go there? At Christmas?"

Her cold gaze turned on Sirius. "Not everyone has family problems, Black."

James piped up, "From what we saw on the train, you obviously do too!"

At the same time that she huffed, "That's none of your business, Potter," Remus chastised, "That was insensitive, James." James shrugged and looked away at the fire as Evans brushed past his feet. He caught a whiff of Christmas as she passed by; pine and snow and burning wood.

The fire looked strange, with the flames licking the carpeted ceiling.

* * *

"WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!" screamed Sirius, bouncing from bed to bed to bed to bed as he did so.

"Sirius, let us sleep!" groaned Remus, pulling his pillow over his head.

Sirius whined, "But it's _Christmas!_"

A muffled snap floated over from Frank. "Exactly! Our present from you can be more sleep!"

Sirius laughed. "Too late, I've already gotten you stuff!" The others grumbled as they swung their legs over the side of their beds and got up.

"Jamie-poo! Get up get up get up!" Sirius began bouncing on James' stomach. An evil plan formed in James' mind.

James rolled over abruptly, flipping Sirius onto the floor. His friend let out a yelp as he hit the floor with a dull thud.

"Not cool," mumbled Sirius as he clambered to his feet, scarlet as the curtains on their four-poster beds. Frank, Remus, and Peter laughed says James jumped over Sirius, smirking.

"Now, we must go see what we have under the tree, because there's no chance of going back to sleep with this prat around," Remus teased, "to wake us up at-" Remus glanced at his watch. "-FIVE IN THE MORNING?!" he roared, fuming. The other boys turned slowly to face Sirius, who was struggling to untangle himself from the blankets James had dumped on him.

Sirius gulped. "It's Christmas," he muttered meekly.

The small cluster of Gryffindors already in the he common room looked up suddenly to see one frightened first year, followed by a furious group of eleven-year-old boys, all in old flannel pyjamas and wielding wands, shoes, and a slightly damp towel.

An hour later, the boys had come to enough to hoist Sirius back to Gryffindor Tower, each holding a limb.

"Christmas... Is supposed... To be happy," the boy said in a daze. "You ruined it... So now you have to... Get me another."

James chuckled darkly, "Only one very year, mate." Sirius groaned, and they tossed him onto his bed like a rag doll. "Here's your present," he added, throwing a small parcel at Sirius' face.

Being Sirius, he sat up into it, and rubbed his nose as it fell into his lap. "What've you got in here?" he accused. "Bricks?" James laughed and they all exchanged gifts.

Even though it was Christmas, and the roast was amazing, and the decorations were perfect, and the fire was warm, and the snow was cold, James couldn't help but feel that something very important was missing.

* * *

The four boys were very much enjoying their last day of Christmas vacation. They had been outside all day, pummelling each other with snowballs. James' favourite was when he had spent a solid twenty minutes carefully packing what resembled a snowman's head, and had chucked it at Professor Dumbledore.

Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore was a brilliant wizard. That meant that the snowball was halted before it hit its target, and was sent back at James.

After that, he had decided that it might be best to go back inside.

He and Sirius sat in front of the fire, playing Wizard's Chess. James had two pieces left, his king and a rook, and Sirius had four, a pawn, his king, his queen, and a rook.

James was contemplating his next move, and was distracted by the sound of the portrait hole creaking open.

Evans walked in, snow in her dark red tresses, her normally pale nose red. James turned away quickly and made a fail move.

Sirius slid his queen across the board and crowed, "Checkmate!"

James scowled, "No it's not! I'm not allowed to move my king into check. That's the rules."

Sirius upended the board onto James' lap and stormed across the common room.

"Evans! I want you to tell me who won!"

Evans turned in surprise, then glanced at James, who was sitting staring confusedly at the chessboard on his lap. "I can't, now that you've messed it all up," she said snobbishly.

Sirius frowned, then immediately brightened. "Jamsie can set it back up the way it was!" He sauntered over to James, who set it back up.

James explained to Evans, concentrating on the pieces, "I moved here, and Sirius took my king."

"Then Black won."

"Ha!"

"No, but I'm not allowed to move my king into check."

Evans frowned. James couldn't help noticing the way her chin scrunched up when she stuck her lower lip out the slightest bit. "When did you say that you made a mistake?"

"... After Sirius had taken my king..." James answered hesitantly.

Evans brightened. "Even though you're technically right, Potter, I think Black still won."

James stood. "Wait, what? How d'you work that out?"

Evans raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Are you telling me that you would've still pointed out your mistake if Black had made a different move?"

"Yes! And I don't understand why you would think otherwise!" James shouted. Heads turned, but he didn't care.

Evans tipped her face up so that they were nose to nose. "Oh, I don't know, Potter," she hissed. "Maybe it's because you treat other people like the scum from the bottom of your shoe."

"Well at least I'm not an insufferable know it all!" James razzed. His glasses were slipping off of his nose, resting on the bride of hers.

"Aww, you're fighting like an old married couple," cooed Sirius. They both rounded on him, but for James it was hard to see him, because his glasses were hanging off of his face.

With that, Evans stalked up to her dormitory, her trunk bouncing along behind her.

James huffily sat back down in his chair and reset the board.


	4. A Promise

The first years found themselves with an overwhelming amount of homework once Easter break had come and gone. Everyone began to stress over their exams, which resulted in the clashing of stress-relieving behaviours.

While some preferred to sleep, and others preference was to eat, Evans eased her mind by studying every waking hour for the upcoming exams. Of course, this led to her getting incessantly teased by James and Sirius (Peter watched in awe while Remus read as he pretended to ignore it).

Evans didn't take it well.

She was already stressed, and because of that was losing sleep, which increased her temper. The last thing she needed was getting her studying interrupted by two immature boys.

James was all too happy to shower her with attention in the form of pranks and teasing, which he already cheerfully bestowed upon her best friend, Snivellus.

The last day before the exams, James and Sirius lounged beneath a large beech tree by the Black Lake, snickering as they relived the prank they had done that morning. Peter watched avidly, as though it were a Quidditch match. Remus seemed positively bored.

"And then, we bewitched their ink bottles to chase after them, spilling ink on them every once in a while!" Sirius concluded with gusto. James bowed exaggeratedly for Peter, who was clapping enthusiastically. When he was done, he plopped onto the ground along with Sirius rather unceremoniously and leaned back against the rough bark of the tree.

"Ah, that was fun," sighed James. "Can't wait till next year."

Sirius grinned. "But aren't you upset for the summer?"

James sat up. "Why would I be?"

Remus snickered, "Because you'll be see separated from the love of your life for two and a half entire months." Peter giggled (yes he did).

"Ugh when are you going to let this go?" whined James as he settled back down.

Sirius barked a laugh. "When you admit your feelings for the gorgeous Ms. Evans!"

James harrumphed and crossed his arms, looking away across the lake. Sirius continued, "How's this, mate: I bet you two galleons that you will fall head over heels before fourth year."

James smiled. "Then I'll be getting two galleons."

Peter leaned over and whispered something to Sirius. Sirius grinned wickedly. "I'm raising the stakes. Four galleons say you'll fall in third year!" James was about to say, "challenge accepted" when someone else decided to raise the stakes as well.

Remus snorted. "You guys are sissies. Six galleons, you'll be absolutely infatuated by the end of second year. If you win, we each give two galleons. How does that sound?"

James nodded defiantly. Then he pouted, "Why do we have to wear thick black robes when it's HOT out?"

"Oh, is Potter hot?" a teasing voice behind them sounded.

They all turned. James grinned. "If you say so, Evans." Evans and Snivellus were standing a few meters away. "Pull up a bit of grass, but please leave Snivellus where he is."

Evans retorted, "No, that's quite alright. If you're so overheated, then how about you look up?" James rolled his eyes and threw his head back. He froze as cold water dumped over his face. Of course. The Black Lake was always freezing.

He jumped to his feet. "Why you little-" James growled running at her. Evans' laughter became squeals as James plowed into her, carrying her over his shoulder as he ran into the lake, trying to ignore the chilling water seeping into his robes. He went until he was chest deep, with Evans slapping his back all the way.

"Put me down, you little prick, put me down!"

James smiled, "If you insist!" He began sliding her off so that she would plunge head first.

"No not that way!" she shrieked. James shrugged and swung her over his other side, holding her up a little. "Let go!" He dropped her and she yelped as she sunk to her armpits.

James grinned. "I assume you can swim?"

"No I can't!" she squealed, shivering, her lips turning blue. James frowned.

"Wait. You can't swim?"

"No! I can't! And I'm stuck!" James bit his lip and ran his hands through his hair. By now it was not only something to make him look cooler, but also something he did when he was nervous.

James sighed, "Merlin, Evans, I never would've done this if I knew you couldn't swim..."

Evans snapped, "Get me out of this lake before I hex you into your eighties." James sighed.

"Don't hate me, Evans."

"I already do, too late. Just get me out so that I can go back to cursing the day you were born in peace."

James scowled down at her. "Well if you're going to be like that, I'll just leave you here to freeze to death."

Evans narrowed her eyes. "Fine, can you take me back to the shore?" James narrowed his eyes, furrowed his brow, and stroked his chin. "Oh come on, Potter, please?"

James gasped. "Did Lily Evans just say please?"

"It's just Evans to you."

"Alright then, come on," he said, opening his arms.

She squinted at him. "If you're asking for a hug-"

"Merlin, no, you're hopeless," James complained, scooping her up. It was easier to carry her when she was in the water, because the water makes things lighter, but it was very slow. James' legs were quickly going numb, and were already struggling against the current. Evans crossed her arms and scowled the whole way.

When they got to shore, Snivellus glared at James.

"Uh, Potter?" Evans asked nervously. "You can put me down now."

James stared at her in confusion before realising that she was still cradled in his arms, unable to release herself.

"Oh." He dropped her legs and kept one arm around her while he made sure she was steady. She stalked away with Snivellus, teeth chattering.

"Oi, Evans! Aren't you going to thank me?" James called after them.

She spun around, her wet hair looking burgundy from the water. "Why would I thank you, Potter?"

James snorted. "Oh, I don't know, for saving your life maybe?"

"You started the problem in the first place!" she screamed, striding back over.

"Well it's not my fault that you can't swim!"

"Even if I could have, you could've given me hypothermia! This is all your fault!"

"How? You started it when you dumped that cauldron of water on me!"

Evans laughed harshly. "You started it when you interrupted my studying with your stupid pranks, Potter!" They were now shouting in each others faces.

"Oh, so you're blaming me for relieving my stress!"

"No, I'm blaming you for stressing me out instead!"

"Lily," Snivellus broke in quietly. "Come on, he's not worth it."

Evans was breathing heavily as she turned to face him. "You're right, Sev. He's nothing but a toerag."

James scoffed. "At least I don't waste my time with bloody Slytherins who hate Muggle-borns and want nothing more than to join You-Know-Who!" Snivellus froze, and Evans slowly turned to face him. "See, he can't even deny it! I've seen him, he loves the Dark Arts! I know you hate it, I've seen it, don't deny it!"

Evans glowered at him before punching him in the face. There was a crack, and a small snapping noise, and a bubble of blood. It spilled all over James and some spattered onto Evans.

"Fine then, hang out with that git. He's just like the rest of them, one day you'll regret ever having met him. He's going to hurt you, Evans, Snivellus will hurt you, whether it's now, or over the summer, or in four years. So it's all your fault if that happens, because I warned you, and I told you over and over. He's going to be practicing spells, or hanging out with those prats Avery and Mulciber, or he's going to get really mad and call you... I can't even say it. I promise you, Evans, he's going to do something that could potentially ruin your life. So hang out with him at your own risk, see what happens." James turned away after his rant and heard Evans and Snivellus trudging away through the sand.

"Mate..." Sirius started.

"I don't want to hear it, Sirius."

"Actually, Remus came up with this idea that we could call ourselves the Marauders, you know. Make our legacy last." James grinned as he wiped the blood away. "Messers Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James! I can just see it!" He heard a click as Remus fixed his broken glasses.

The boys, now dubbed the Marauders, laughed. James had an idea. "Do any of you know how to produce a Patronus?" They shook their heads.

"Why?" Peter asked.

"Well, my parents can produce animal Patronuses. What if we came up with nicknames for each other by figuring out what our Patronuses are? And nobody would have to know who's who except us, at least until we've used them long enough for them to figure it out. And it's not like practicing the Patronus charm is illegal unless we try outside of school!"

"Wow, James, that's a good idea!" Remus exclaimed. James sat in the sun to dry off, and he wiped his face again indignantly.

"You say that as if I don't have good ideas all the time!" he accused.

Sirius sniffed, "That's cause you don't, mate." James growled and pounced on Sirius, and they began to wrestle. When Sirius accidentally kicked Remus, Remus joined in. Peter squealed and cheered.

James honestly wasn't sure how Peter had ended up as a Marauder, but then again, he had been with them on the train when the other three boys had become friends. But James was positive that Peter was their friend; he practically worshiped the bottoms of James' and Sirius' shoes, and he would go to the end of the world for Peter, he was certain. But Peter was a little weak-willed and didn't seem all too bright, and James had absolutely no idea how he had become a Gryffindor; he had always seemed to cower when Sirius, James, and Remus were confronted and watched their duel from the sidelines, safely out of the way of spells.

But, as James got his head knocked into the grass by Remus, his thoughts wandered over to their mysterious friend. Remus seemed a bit peaky all the time, but James never thought much of this. Every month, he went to visit his mother, who was grievously ill. He came back a few days later. James liked how he was rebellious, but in a quieter fashion; he tended to not get caught unless he was with the other Marauders. He also had a unique touch to his individual pranks that he kept out of the group pranks. And, when Sirius or James got into a fight, Remus had a habit of turning a blind eye and then fixing the damage later. It was nice.

"Boys!" screeched their Head of House, McGonagall, the forty-one year old Transfiguration professor. "Get up!" The boys hastily scrambled to their feet, dusting grass off of their robes. She squinted down at them.

"Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed, his arms thrown open wide.

"No, Mr. Black," she snapped.

"But Minnie, I want a hug!" whined Sirius. She glared at him sternly, and his arms drooped before his hands were clasped behind his back.

"I, being a responsible professor," she began, staring down at them through her glasses, "should deduct twenty points from each of you for fighting," she continued sharply at the three boys, who gaped at her, "and ten from you for letting them." This was directed at Peter. "However," she went on, causing their heads to snap up, "that would put us behind Slytherin. And I very much would like to win on my first year as Head of House. So I won't. This time," Professor McGonagall concluded, peering down her nose at them.

"Oh yes professor. We solemnly swear that we're up to no good," James assured her, "quietly." She raised her eyebrows.

Sirius snickered. "We may know a way to lose Slytherin a few points..."

Remus, seeing McGonagall's worried expression, hastily added, "Without getting caught or hurting anyone badly."

"What is this plan?" she demanded.

The three laughed, and Peter squeaked, "It's better when it's a surprise." The teacher huffed a little before nodding and stalking away.

By now, James was warm, though still wet, which left him feeling gross. "Let's go back to the dormitory, I need a shower. I swam in Essence of Giant Squid," he added, shuddering. The other boys shivered as well, but they were trying not to laugh and failing miserably. James glared at them before stalking away like McGonagall and Evans had, with his nose in the air.

* * *

Later that night, James flopped down into bed. His nose was throbbing. He massaged it lightly, wincing. Remus looked up, and James realised that he had let out a small groan.

"Want me to fix that, mate?" James nodded vigorously. Remus pointed his wand at James' face, who was watching the wand warily. "Episkey," he commanded, and a loud crack sounded, and there was a sudden pain in James' nose.

"Ah!" James exclaimed holding his hand up to his face. He waited until the pain ceased. "How does it look?" he inquired, pulling his hand away.

Remus glanced at it before returning to his book. "Exceptionally ordinary," he replied, and James sighed in relief. Peter was already sleeping, snoring like a pig. Sirius was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Sirius?" James asked.

"No idea. But look," Remus replied, "I've found out how to make a Patronus!"

James gasped. "No way?"

"Yes way. See, you think something really really happy, then say 'expecto patronum' then, if it's powerful enough, it'll produce a corporeal Patronus."

"Corporeal?"

"It has a shape, it's not just pointless mist."

"Well let's give it a shot!" James exclaimed, leaping up. He fingered his wand, thinking hard. He decided on the day he had gotten a wand.

James furrowed his brow, trying to recall every detail. He had gone into Ollivanders, gotten creeped out by Mr. Ollivander, and tried nearly every wand in the shop before he found his, mahogany, eleven inches, pliant, with a unicorn hair core. He took a deep breath before raising his wand. He whispered, "Expecto patronum." Nothing happened.

"Maybe you need a happier memory," Remus supplied. James sat down before thinking. When he had ridden on his father's broom for he first time? When he had gotten that book last Christmas, the one he wasn't supposed to open in front of his mother, that was laying in his trunk at this very moment? A sudden idea hit him, and a tiny wisp of silver floated out of his wand. The day he had met Sirius, Peter, and Remus, on the train.

He concentrated harder than ever at the joy of conversing with other young wizards his age, and of finding out that he would be spending every school year for the rest of his education with his best friends. A little louder than he had last time, he muttered the incantation. A blurry bubble of mist shot out of his wand, illuminating the dim room in bright light. He and Remus admired it.

It disappeared when they heard a bang from the doorway. Sirius stumbled in, whipping James' Invisibility Cloak off. "You two," he began breathlessly, "will never believe what I just heard." The two boys raised their eyebrows. Sirius continued, "the girls, they were talking about us. Not him," he added, gesturing at Peter's sleeping form.

"Why would they be talking about me?" Remus exclaimed.

James said, "You're fairly good looking. Granted, not as much as me-"

"Definitely not as handsome as me, but still fairly good looking," Sirius interrupted. "Anyways, the conversation started with Evans complaining about you, especially the fact that you got blood on her shirt."

James protested, "That was entirely her fault!"

Sirius waved him away like an irksome fly. "Then that Jones girl, Hestia, said, 'he's good looking though. Not as much as Black, but still.' That other girl, the blond what's her name..."

"Mary Macdonald?" Remus supplied.

"Yeah, her. Funny you should remember her name," Sirius said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "'cause she said, 'I personally like Lupin more.' Then Alice Prewett said something about Frank, then there was a lot of girl talk, you know, boring stuff, and Evans didn't talk for a long time, then Jones said, 'You know Lily, I think Potter really likes you.' And Evans was all, 'That's codswallop. He hates me, and that's okay, because I hate him.' Prewett snorted, very unladylike by the way, and said, 'Yeah right. You two are perfect for each other.' Then I think that Evans tackled her, because she screamed, and I laughed, and they all went super quiet. Then Jones, she's really pretty by the way, opened the door and that's when I left."

James was flushed. "What's the point of telling us this?"

Remus snorted, "Sirius thinks he's proved himself right, that's what!" James stared at him confusedly, and Remus sighed. "Nearly everyone thinks that you and Evans are going to be a couple someday."

"Then nearly everyone is wrong."

Sirius grinned. "Jamsie!" he sang. "Truth or Dare!"

James frowned, but said dare, because he was scared of what they would ask had he said truth, and was scared that he might accidentally lie. Sirius grinned, and James knew that he had made a huge mistake.

"I dare you," he said menacingly, "To ask Evans out on the day before we get on the train."

* * *

James had one week exactly to figure out how he was going to complete his dare. Sirius was being extremely annoying about it, and planned to carry a camera around with him everywhere on the last full day at Hogwarts. He felt extremely awkward every time he passed her in the corridors, because he was busy trying to figure out how to do as Sirius asked.

Two days prior to the fateful day where he was certain he was going to make a fool of himself, he was working out the finer details. He had already decided on what to say: "Evans will you go out with me?" He walked past her, and his head snapped up when he saw her point his wand at him.

Evans muttered something under her breath, and James felt a sudden rush. He looked down to see that his shirt had tucked itself in. He gaped at her incredulously. Did she not know the pressure he was in? No, of course not.

She shrugged. "It was bothering me," she explained. James grinned and untucked his shirt again. He walked away, only to find his shirt hem back in his pants after a few feet. He untucked it irritably. Evans scowled and pointed her wand at him again, and he did the same. At the same time as she tucked his shirt in magically, he murmured a spell to untuck hers. She blinked and looked down. He smirked and walked away.

As soon as he was safely out of her wand's reach, he began to panic. He still had absolutely no idea how he was going to get her away from not only Snivellus, but her dorm mates as well. When she wasn't with her pet slimeball, she was accompanied by Hestia Jones, Mary Macdonald, Marlene McKinnon, and Alice Prewett. And he had no idea who it would be easier to separate her from; even though there were four other girls, Snivellus seemed to be terribly clingy. He had an enormous problem.

James groaned as he realised that, even if he did manage to get her alone, he still had next to no idea what to do.

The next two days passed with James in a tiny private bubble. He had finally given up, planning to play it by ear and hope that he didn't make even more a fool of himself than he already would.

"Jamie-poo!" squealed a voice above his head. James automatically thrust his fist in the air, and a yelp escaped Remus, who had been bending over him while Sirius tried to wake him.

"Oh man, Remus, I'm sorry..." James muttered as he sat up stiffly. The world around him was incredibly blurry, so he groped his bedside table for his glasses, and when he succeeded, he roughly shoved them onto the bridge of his nose.

Sirius ignored James' violent manner of waking up. "Guess what today is!"

James blinked a few times and ran his hand through his untidy raven hair. "Uh... Thursday?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "No."

"Yeah it is!" squeaked Peter.

Sirius snorted, "I know it's Thursday, but that's not what I meant." James continued to stare at them blankly as Remus hopped around pulling on his pants. Sirius sighed heavily. "It's our last full away of school!"

James nodded."... So?"

Remus toppled over in his attempts to pull his right trouser leg on, and as he sat on the floor for better support, he offered, "Today is the day you complete your dare, genius."

James' eyes widened. "Well why didn't you just say so?" he screeched, bounding out of bed and began to scramble around looking for his things.

Peter giggled as Sirius raised an eyebrow. "We did, mate. You're just not smart enough to take a hint."

James scowled. "Am too! I'm just tired!" he protested, pulling on his shoes. He ran a hand through his hair as he took a deep breath and steeled himself. Sirius snickered, and Remus hushed him even though he was shaking in silent laughter. Peter watched eagerly while James squared his shoulders and threw open the door.

They marched behind him, Sirius and Remus flanking him, and Peter in the back. James didn't see Evans anywhere. But, then again, she was a deep sleeper, so- _Wait how did I know that? _James internally groaned. First he knows her sleeping patterns, what next?

He sat down in his normal seat in the Great Hall and messed up his hair again. He snatched some bacon, but nothing else. He didn't really trust his stomach enough to eat anything else, and it slightly sickened him to see his fellow Marauders stuffing themselves with food. He became even more nauseous at the sight of Sirius' camera, which took moving pictures.

After breakfast, he led the other three out to the Black Lake. Evans spent a lot of time there now that the weather was nice. James let out a tiny sigh of relief to see her sitting, not with Snivellus, but with only Jones. Jones was one of those girls who will practically shove her friends in guys' ways. James was so lucky.

He heard Sirius fiddling with his camera and gulped. "Go on," Remus prompted, poking James' back. James was surprised; he hadn't realised that he had stopped.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath through his nose, let it out through his mouth. And he swaggered over to where the two girls were sitting; the red-head and the brunette.

"Er, um, Evans?" James asked awkwardly. She looked up and frowned.

"What d'you want?" she retorted irratably.

James ran his hand through his hair. "I was... I was wondering of maybe I could talk to you?"

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?"

James scowled. "Privately?"

Evans looked as though she was going to refuse; but, thank Merlin for Jones, who prodded her to her feet and shoved her away, then stood next to Sirius, who was holding his camera up to his eye.

Evans sighed loudly and walked with James a few feet away, then turned to him. "What do you want, Potter?" she demanded, flipping her curtain of dark red hair. It brushed against James' nose, and he smelled roses, which he found slightly ironic, since her name was Lily.

James cleared his throat, and he let his instincts take over. He took her hand in both of his and dropped to one knee. "Evans, will you go out with me?"

Evans stared at him. James was acutely aware of the arrival of Snivellus, who joined Jones. Jones acknowledged his presence with a nod. There were several small clicks coming from Sirius.

And, as though she were waking up from a dream, Evans blink and pulled her hand from his grasp. James felt something hard hit his face, and his head automatically turned. His skin tingled where Evans had slapped him. "No."

James stood slowly, and stared down at her. "N-no?" Never, during the entire week and a half that he had been dreading this moment, had he even dreamed that she would reject him.

"Exactly, Potter, what part of no don't you understand?" James continued to gape at her, and she hissed, "I will never, ever, ever go out with you, James Potter, and that's a promise."

James' eyes widened, then narrowed. "Oh yeah? Well, Lily Evans, I will get you to go out with me by the time we graduate. And that's a promise." Evans glared at him, and he glared back, and they simultaneously turned their backs on each other and stalked away towards their respective friends.

Sirius cackled as they returned to the castle. "I got a moving picture of that! The bending down on one knee, the slap, and the vows. You tow are so an old married couple!" Remus and Peter crowded around Sirius behind James as the picture developed. They roared with laughter as the scene replayed itself over and over. James growled and stormed up to the dorm, slamming the thick wooden door behind him. He walked into the bathroom and locked the door, then sat down on the closed toilet lid and cradled his face in his hands.

_WHY WOULD SHE REJECT ME? WHAT DID I DO WRONG? AND WHY WOULD SHE SWEAR TO NEVER EVER GO OUT WITH ME, EVER?_ Then he froze._ WHY DO I EVEN CARE? ITS NOT LIKE I WANTED TO DO THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE. SO WHY IS IT AFFECTING ME SO MUCH?_

He groaned a bit and sat down on the floor, leaning up against the wall. He heard quiet sobs on the other side.

"Hey, baby, it's okay. He's a git, hon, don't worry your pretty little head about that James Potter." With a jolt, he realised that it was Jones, talking to Evans. He strained his ears to listen as Jones continued, "He didn't think about how it would affect you. How about this, you come to my place this summer. Keep you away from Petunia, give you room to clear your mind. How's that sound?"

Suddenly, Evans screamed, "WHY DOES HE HATE ME SO MUCH?" and broke down into louder wails. "Why me?" she whimpered.

Jones comforted, "Lils, he doesn't hate you. That's why it hurts so much, cause he loves you, Lily, he loves you and you hurt him."

James scowled. He most certainly did not love Lily Evans. He listened intently as Evans' voice dropped dangerously low. "I-I hurt-I hurt HIM?!" James winced at the shriek next to his ear. "He is so mean. He walks around like he owns the place, he doesn't think of what others might feel, I'm shocked that he can even get out of bed, his head is so big." James scoffed here. "I mean, if he at least tried to be nicer, then this wouldn't even be a problem."

James stood. He had heard quite enough. He wouldn't listen to what they had said about him. He didn't care what they thought. He was comfortable being who he was, and he wouldn't change because some girl said he needed to. He didn't need girls.

He walked out the bathroom, pleased at the small yelp that sounded when he slammed the door. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were quietly waiting. He glowed with pride at how loyal they were to him. Sirius was fingering the small picture, and James felt a little piece of him break as he watched the tiny people inside fighting.

Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, mate, I was thinking... I wanted to keep a sort of scrapbook..." He paused to gauge James' reaction before belting the rest out. "... Of you and Evans."

James stared at him. "Are you raving mad?" he demanded. "What would you do that for?"

Sirius glanced at Remus before answering. "So that when you're mar-" he stopped dead at James' glare, and refused to continue.

Remus sighed in defeat and finished, "So that when you're older, you can look back on it and laugh."

James lugged his trunk from under his bed and threw the lid open. "Oh, so you want to remind me about my first rejection? That's right jolly good of you, boys, right jolly good." He irritably shoved his cauldron inside, packed his books and things around it, and stuffed his clothes inside the cauldron. He was very careful to make sure that his Invisibility Cloak was wrapped in other things, to keep it hidden. He pulled his robes off over his head, stripped down to his boxers, and shoved his school uniform into the cauldron as well. He flopped down into his bed and took off his glasses.

The other boys meekly followed suit and fell asleep quickly. Frank laid on his bed and watched with sympathy etched on his face.

James spent the rest of the night attempting to stare burn holes into the Muggle clothes that he would be wearing home tomorrow.


	5. Going Home

There was an unusual amount of tension around the Gryffindor table the next morning. There was a small bubble of silence surrounding the first years. No one wanted to break it, for fear of saying the wrong thing and setting off either James or Evans, who were practically bombs with lit fuses.

Finally, Sirius dropped his fork. It hit his plate with a loud clattering noise, causing the other nine first years to look up. More than one of them cricked their necks, but Sirius obviously didn't care.

"I can't take it anymore, I can't bloody take it!" he ranted angrily. They stared at him as he continued, "It's all my fault, I dared Jamesie to ask you out Evans, it's all my fault. He didn't want to do it, I forced him, hate me instead," he finished, looking at Evans with pleading eyes.

Evans carefully put down her knife and fork, then stared down at her nearly untouched waffle.

"That just makes it worse, Black," she murmured. Jones took her hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb.

Sirius stared at her. "What d'you mean, it makes it worse?"

Evans looked up, and her eyes were slightly pink. "It means that you hurt me for nothing but a stupid dare," she spat before shoving her plate away and collapsing onto the table, sobbing uncontrollably.

James watched her warily as he took the waffle and began to eat it with his fingers. He was one of those people who dealt with depression by eating, he couldn't help it.

Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times before, "I'm sorry. It's still all my fault."

Evans glared at him. "Yes it is. And that's my waffle, give it back," she hissed, snatching her waffle away from James. It tore in half and he clutched it to him, staring at her reproachfully until she got up and left.

Jones turned to them. "I can't believe you would do that, Black. I thought you were better."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Sirius yelled. "I only did it to make James uncomfortable, because he was always insisting that he hated her even though everyone knows that he loves her, so I told him to ask! It was stupid of me, I know, but it hurt James as much as it did her!"

"How would you know that?!"

"Because James spent all of yesterday evening and this morning moping about it, and I'm not sorry because of Evans! I'm sorry because of James, because he loves her and she rejected him, and now she's broken him!" James had had enough. He stood, the bench scraping against the stone floor, and briskly left the Great Hall.

"James!" both Jones and Sirius screamed after him. He didn't turn, because he didn't want them to see the tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn't believe that Sirius continued to insist that James loved Evans, after he had made his feelings perfectly clear. He did not love Lily Evans and he never would. That was a promise.

He realised he was still clutching the waffle.

The waffle stirred a sudden anger in his chest. The waffle made him think of Sirius, and Jones, and Evans, and dares, and all things that were all twisted up to make up this entire issue. He yelled angrily and threw the waffle half at the side of the castle.

He went so far as to stomp over it, rip it into pieces, then threw it out onto the lake piece by piece, watching as slimy tentacles snatched them from the water.

He crossed to the beech tree and climbed to sit on a branch. He glanced down and saw the exact spot where he had fell to one knee, taken Evans' soft, pale hand in both of his own, and asked her to go out with him. The memory depressed him.

He began to miss the waffle.

Something above him shifted, and he glanced up to see a flash of red. "Hullo, Evans," he greeted miserably.

She glanced down at him. "What did that waffle ever do to you?"

"Reminded me of you."

"Why are you crying all over the tree?"

He raised a hand to his face and felt tear tracks. He shrugged. "Reminded me of you."

"How does some old beech tree remind you of me?" she asked incredulously.

"There's where you dumped a cauldron-full of squid water all over me," he supplied, gesturing to one spot, "and that's where I coloured your hair black while you slept," he added, pointing at another patch of grass, "that's where you Confunded me into throwing Peter into the Lake as tribute to the Giant Squid," he waved at a rock, "and that's where I was rejected for the first time," he finished quietly, staring at a spot that was sparkling in the sun.

"Funny, how you associate all these inanimate objects with me. Then again, I associate lots of magical things with you..."

"Do you now?"

"Oh yeah. Like that potion that Slughorn showed us, first potions class, the Amortentia? You tried to spike my pumpkin juice with it. And the button on my cloak, you turned it into a beetle. And my textbooks, you wrote 'James was here x' on all of the inside covers in permanent ink." She snorted spitefully. "I was actually considering tossing them and ordering new ones, but that would be a waste of money, seeing as you would just deface the new ones." James laughed.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

"I have a spare bit of parchment, and I don't want it anymore. You want it?" She shrugged, and James gave it to her.

Evans inspected it carefully. "What's the catch?"

James grinned. "Nothing dangerous. You'll find out next year, probably in potions." She sniffed.

"Fine then."

James jumped down from the tree. "You planning on coming? The train's leaving in half an hour." Evans peered down at him. James rolled his eyes, "You can't get down, can you."

"No."

"Jump, I'll catch you."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Promise?"

"Marauder's honor," he pledged. She looked as though she were about to ask, but changed her mind and leapt gracefully, landing in James' arms.

"Oof," he grunted.

"I'm not that heavy!"

"No, but you're lighter in the water. Evans, go out with me?"

Her amused expression immediately hardened. "You don't mean it. Go away."

"But Evans-"

"_GO!_" she screamed. James walked backwards slowly before sprinting back to the castle._ Well wasn't that chivalrous? _he asked himself sarcastically as he slowed to a walk to enter the castle.

The Marauders were waiting for him. "What did you do, James?" demanded Remus.

When James didn't answer, Sirius added, "Yeah, mate, it looked like you were having a lovely little talk there for a moment, then she screamed at you."

James shrugged and grabbed his trunk, as did the other three. Together, they dragged their trunks down to the train. "Say, can I stay at your place this summer James?"

"Sure! Either of you care to join us?"

Remus and Peter shook their heads. "You sure?" Sirius asked. "We're going to have lots of fun," he added with a wink. "Jones and Macdonald live in Godrics Hollow, and James lives just outside the village."

Remus wrinkled his nose. "Ew, no. I've had enough of girls and their drama for a lifetime, and it's only been one year. 'Sides, my mum wants me home."

"Peter?" James prompted.

"No, I promised my little cousin I'd tell him all about Hogwarts."

James said in a frantic whisper, "Please don't leave me with him!"

"Oi! I bloody well heard that!"

James turned with a winning smile. "Sirius, old chap, didn't see you there!" Sirius snorted while the boys laughed, clambering into a horseless carriage for the ride back to Hogsmeade, where the train awaited them.

They found a compartment all to themselves, and joked around while they waited for the train to leave.

Two people were looking for somewhere to sit, and there just so happened to be two seats left in the Marauders' compartment. However, when they peeked in, one of them promptly tried to leave.

"Oh, come on, Lils, it's just the boys," Jones sighed with exasperation. The door slid open and shut again as they made their way into the compartment and settled down. Since Peter and Remus were flanking Sirius, and James was sitting in the middle seat of the row across from them, he found himself sandwiched between two girls. He felt, to say the least, extremely uncomfortable.

James, who was still bitter, asked nastily, "Where's you little slimeball pet, love? Did he get lost?"

Evans glowered at him. "No, he just told other people he'd sit with them!"

"Pity, I was so hopeful," drawled Sirius, seemingly bored, but James saw the camera flashing discreetly, and remembered that Sirius had gone to find Arthur Weasley; he must have asked the seventh-year to put a silencing charm on the camera.

Evans didn't even look at him. "You are so thick, Potter!"

"Oh really?" he retorted, raising his eyebrows. "How so?"

"You think you're so great, and you're just an arrogant toerag! Can't you see how horrible you are? How do you live with yourself?"

James scoffed. "Oh really? Well you're just as bad, Evans!"

Jones, behind him, gasped. She began, "How dare you-"

Evans hushed her, "No, Hest, I want to hear his reasoning."

James glared at her as he began to repeat, "'He walks around like he owns the place, he doesn't care how other people feel, I'm surprised he can get out of bed, his head is so big!'" He had said all of this in a high pitched voice, and Evans bit her lip guiltily, tears making her emerald eyes shine.

"How do you know I said that?" she whispered.

James hissed, "Have you forgotten, the only thing separating my bathroom from yours is a very thin wall?" Her eyes widened, the tears threatened to spill over, but he didn't care. "Would you look at that? Picture perfect Lily Evans, talking about people behind their backs, we didn't see that one coming, did we? No, but we totally predicted James' actions, after all, his head is so big that it's a miracle that he can get ready every morning without breaking his neck! But Evans is so perfect, with perfect grades, and perfect features, and a perfect group of friends, and a perfect family, and her perfect little bubble that protects her from the rest of us, less perfect people!" He was practically shouting now, and she was cowering in her seat. The camera was still flashing, and there was a growing pile of pictures in Sirius' lap.

Evans whispered, "Well at least I can insult people without complimenting them at the same time."

James laughed cynically. "Oh, and that is such a good attribute! Being able to tell people bad things about them without delivering it as a backhanded compliment!"

"Well at least I don't confuse people when it comes to telling them how I feel!" screeched Evans, standing. Their noses were nearly touching. "And I have no problems with telling you, James, that I hate every last particle of your being, and I fall asleep cursing the day you were born, so just bugger off!"

James stared at her dumbfounded. As did the other four. "What?" she asked defensively.

James blinked a few times, took off his glasses to rub his eyes, pinched himself, and carefully balanced his glasses on the bridge of his nose so that it was perfectly level before answering, "You called me James," simply as you please.

Evans flouted, "I did not." She crossed her arms and put her weight on her right leg, shaking her hair to rest against her back. SHE LOOKS CUTE, James thought, WAIT WHAT?!

Jones cut in, "Yeah, actually, you did, TigerLily. We all heard it..."

Lily snorted and plopped back down in her spot, and James slowly parked himself next to her, trying to make himself thinner than he already was. Another few minutes passed in silence.

But, of course, Sirius, being Sirius, could not stand more than a few minutes of silence. "So," he started, "how 'bout them Chudley Cannons?"

James snorted and was about to reply when Evans stole the words right out of his mouth.

"The Chudley Cannons suck."

They all stared at her incredulously. "What? I read Quidditch through the Ages a couple days after someone," she shot James a pointed look, "sprained my ankle and talked about Quidditch down five flights of stairs."

James gasped and clutched at his chest, right above his heart. "Excuse me, but you seemed to enjoy it," he said, seeing a light blink from Sirius' direction.

"I was being nice, believe it or not, and BLACK WHAT IN BLOODY MERLIN'S BAGGY Y-FRONTS ARE YOU DOING?!" she shouted, spinning around to face Sirius.

Sirius shrank into his cushions and James slumped backwards. "Evans, love, apparently the entire school is absolutely convinced that we will someday get married-"

"Then the whole school is wrong."

"That's what I said, and back to the previous discussion, Sirius is one of those people, and is keeping a scrap book of pictures of us during our school years so that when we're an 'old married couple' we can look back and laugh at how absolutely idiotic we are."

"That idea is absolutely idiotic."

"Exactly, because we will never be married or we will end up dead within a week due to relationship arguments."

Evans whipped around to stare down Sirius. "Black, stop this right now," she snapped commandingly.

Sirius shrugged, "Too late, Jones already gave me the album."

Evans turned to Jones. "Hest," she groaned, "why do you hate me?"

Jones smiled. "Hon, I'm just making sure you have a nice keepsake for when we're done and graduated!" Evans snorted. "Petal, don't be like that! We've all got your best interests at heart, and we believe that being with James is in your best interest!"

This time is was James who razzed and crossed his arms.

Remus exclaimed, "See? This is exactly what we mean!"

"What?" the two demanded in unison.

"You are just like each other, except Evans has a bit more structure that James needs, and James has the flexibility that Evans lacks!"

Evans retorted, "I am plenty flexible!" at the same time as James huffed, "I have lots of structure."

Peter added teasingly, "Oh, and you're both stubborn! How sweet is that?"

"That is not sweet at all!"

Jones suddenly gasped, "Lils, truth or dare?"

"Truth." James had to admire her courage; he hardly ever picked truth.

"What good things do you see in Jamesie-poo?" James sat up and watched, interested to see what good was in him in the he eyes of his greatest critic. "I had a seventh year put a charm on this, and if you lie, it burns your wrist. Wear it while you spill!" she crowed, thrusting a small, woven bracelet towards Evans.

Evans took it warily and slipped it onto her right wrist.

"Let's see... I see two sides. The side that is James and the side that is Potter. The side that is Potter is the one that sort of takes over and is the one that is his outward appearance, and that's the side that I hate, because Potter is arrogant, and rude, and vain. But then there's his James side, and it's really easy to ignore because Potter smothers it and hides it in the dark so that it can't grow. But that's the side that's sweet and funny and understanding, and you have to try to look past Potter so that you can get to know the real James."

Jones pointed at her, "Hey, darling, that's not enough."

"What else do you want me to say?" demanded Evans, exasperated.

"Well..."

Evans rolled her eyes. "I also think that he's very handsome when he's not smirking, scowling, or blowing a raspberry."

"Because..." Jones prompted. Remus was smirking, Peter was incredulous, and Sirius was trying not to laugh. James was very smug.

Evans huffed, "Because I like the way his hair sticks up all over the place and the color of his eyes." Evans then ripped off the bracelet and threw it back at Jones.

"You know that the bracelet wasn't really charmed, right?" she asked happily.

"Yeah, I know."

"How?!"

"That whole part about there being a nicer version of James that was hiding was a total lie, I've never seen evidence of such a thing." Sirius, Remus, and Peter practically wet themselves laughing, and Jones had to stifle a giggle.

"That was low, Evans!" James whined.

"Ah well, anyways... Black, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" he crowed triumphantly.

"I dare you..." Evans scowled. James grinned and whispered something in her ear. Her hair tickled his nose, and a relaxing feeling washed over him as he smelled roses. Evans giggled and said, "I dare you to kiss Hestia. For five seconds. We're counting..." Remus and Peter howled with laughter as Jones and Sirius blushed.

They squished their eyes shut and leaned forward, hesitantly pressing their lips together.

"One... Two... Three... Four... Five..." they chanted. Sirius and Jones didn't break apart. James quickly realized that he had to do something, because Remus looked as though he was going to barf all over the two, who were forced to kiss over his lap. He stood and shoved them in opposite directions. They blinked, then began wiping their mouths.

"I... Will... Kill... You... James... Charlus... Potter!" Sirius vowed. It was hard to take him seriously because he was wiping his tongue.

"Ah, revenge is sweet!" James sighed, flopping back down into his seat.

When Sirius was finished, he straightened. "Remus, truth or dare?"

Remus, scared by what had happened to Sirius, muttered, "Truth."

Sirius scowled and tapped his foot as he pondered. "Do you... Like someone?"

"Yes."

"Who?" Jones asked, putting her hands on Remus' knees to gauge his reaction. He scowled at her.

"One truth. I told you my one truth, I am no longer bound by the rules."

James pouted, "Party pooper."

"I can live with that!"

They soon became bored with this game, and all fell asleep; none of them had gotten much sleep the night before, because they were all stressing over what had happened between James and Evans.

When they woke up, the train was screeching to a halt at Kings Cross Station, and they jolted awake. They said their goodbyes awkwardly and hurried away from each other. James watched as Evans hurried to her parents then happily skipped away arm in arm with Jones.

He brought Sirius over to his parents. "Mum, Dad, this is Sirius, he's my best friend. His family hates him, can he stay for a bit this summer?"

James' mum, Dorea, looked at Sirius. "What's your last name, kid?"

Sirius squirmed. "Black."

"Good. I technically don't have to ask dear cousin Walburga," she breathed. "You're my flesh and blood, I have the right to take you as long as you're safely returned to your parents." Sirius squealed in happiness and threw his arms around James' mother. Charlus, however, was looking at James strangely.

"What?"

Charlus cleared his throat before whispering, "Son, you have a wet spot on your shoulder..."

James glanced down at his shoulder and yelped. "Evans..." he growled.

"Evans? Who's Evans?" his mother asked curiously.

"No one."

"His future wife."

"She hates me."

"She said you're handsome."

"I hate her."

"You let her use you as a pillow."

"I was asleep."

"What's your point?"

"She drooled on me!"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty. Can I go home now?" James' mum asked exasperatedly. They laughed and Charlus grabbed James hand, Dorea grabbed Sirius' and the boys linked arms. There was a loud crack as they disapparated to the Potter Manor.

"Now, James dear, I want to know what this Evans looks like," Mrs. Potter said briskly.

"Muuuuum," James whined.

"I have pictures!" Sirius squealed. James groaned.

"James, I think I like Sirius more than you," Charlus teased. James blew a raspberry and leaned against the back of the couch where Sirius was squashed between Mr. and Mrs. Potter. He had a small stack of pictures.

"I've been taking these all year, see, because the entire school, except for Evans and James know that they're going to get together. This one is my favorite." James yelped and hid as he saw Sirius shuffle the pictures until the one of James asking Evans to go out with him was on top.

"Jamesie, you proposed?" Charlus gasped. "You work fast, kid."

"Oh wait, she has some sense, she slapped him."

"Sirius dared me to ask her out. That's what that is," whined James.

Sirius hung his head. "It's true, it's all my fault." To make himself feel better, he looked at the other pictures. "I took this one just now, on the train, cause everyone else was asleep and I thought it was cute." James saw Evans' head resting on his shoulder, his head propped against hers, his glasses falling off, a small spot of drool appearing on his sleeve. He groaned inwardly and went to be early, leaving his parents and Sirius laughing at his expense.


	6. Unexpected Visitors

"Jamesie Jamesie Jamsie!" James groaned.

"Go away Sirius. I want to sleep."

"But Jamesie, your parents have been abducted!"

James bolted upright and snatched up his glasses. "What?"

Sirius was fidgeting, like he did when he was nervous. "I can't find them anywhere!" he moaned.

James flopped back down in his bed. "They're at work, genius." Sirius' eyes widened and his mouth formed a silent OH. James rolled his eyes and hopped out of bed.

"Well, seeing as we're up, might as well eat," he said, rumpling his hair as he stretched.

"How? Your parents are gone."

"We have a house elf."

Sirius looked crestfallen. "Oh."

James stared at him, incredulous. "What, were you looking forward to burning my house down on your first day here?"

Sirius gave a sort of half hearted chuckle before answering. "My parents have a house elf, Kreacher, and he's horrible. A lunatic, I tell you, he's absolutely in love with my parents."

"Oh," James muttered. "Well, Ayleen is nice, she practically raised me. My dad gives her one weekend a month off, so in a week or so you have the opportunity to destroy my childhood home."

Sirius barked a laugh and they plodded downstairs on bare feet. He followed James into the entry way.

James usually felt uncomfortable when people came to his house for the first time. It was a big, three-story house with fifteen large bedrooms, a loft (that's where James' bedroom was), seven bathrooms, and a basement kitchen, all parked on a huge lot with sprawling grounds and a large pool out back. But with Sirius, he wasn't at all shamed; the Blacks were an ancient family with lots of money, and, from what his mother had told him, James gathered that they lived in an even bigger house in London. So Sirius was naturally comfortable in a big space.

Still, Sirius was awestruck. "Your house is so bright, mate," he sighed.

James stopped, and stumbled when Sirius hit him, but turned."What d'you mean?"

"Out house is all dark," Sirius shuddered, "cause that's how they like it. My room is the only colourful place in the entire house, I reckon."

James clapped his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, mate. My mum says you have to go back in July... Shame, really." Sirius sagged.

"I'm hungry," he whined.

James grinned. "Come, fellow Marauder, we must eat." James sauntered down the stairs and threw open the door. "Ayleen, meet Mr. Sirius Black. He will be staying with us until the end of July."

A small house elf with a tiny, pointed nose and large, watery blue eyes scrambled towards him. James knelt and opened his arms, scooping her into the air. He spun her around, her clean pillowcase, fashioned into a dress, fluttered as she laughed.

"Master James!" she squealed. "Your parents have gotten no less than twenty owls about you," she scolded. "I raised you better, I did."

James laughed, "Oh yes, I know, but you're not there to raise me when I'm a t Hogwarts, and that means I can eat real food when I've been bad, not just spinach!"

Ayleen harrumphed, squirmed from James' grasp, and turned to Sirius. "Mister Sirius, a pleasure to meet you, it is!" Sirius flushed and grinned before kneeling.

"It's great to meet you too, Miss Ayleen, I haven't much experience with nice house elves," he flirted. Ayleen blushed and scampered away to make breakfast, and Sirius straightened up.

"Sirius, you big charmer you," James whispered. Sirius snickered.

"Think that would work on Jones?" he asked, winking. They sat down at the small kitchen table and thanked Ayleen before eating.

They were halfway through their meal when the doorbell rang. Ayleen started for the door.

"Ayleen, dearest, I'll get the door, you go rest. You look like you've been wrestling Sammy all night," he added, referring to their aggressive owl. Ayleen nodded in conformation and dragged her feet slowly to a tiny bedroom just off the kitchen, where she lived. That's where Sammy chose to nest, and no one was able to find a better spot for him, so he stayed.

James jogged up the basement steps, Sirius at his heels and flung open the door. "Mum and Dad aren't here right now, I'm their son James would you like to leave a-" he stopped when he saw a who was at the door. "-message..."

Hestia Jones was leaning against the wall. "Hello, boys," she said offhandedly as if she dropped by her schoolmates' houses all the time.

"Erm, hello, Jones," James replied confusedly.

Sirius shoved past, crying, "Jones?" He saw Jones and stopped dead. "Ah, Jones, couldn't get enough of me, could you?"

"Mhm, it's Hestia." They both shrugged. Hestia continued, "Be really quiet, cause I brought someone and they're blindfolded."

James nodded, grinning, and left the door open to lead them into the living room, not bothering to find out who he was leading. Sirius ran ahead.

James stopped and plopped down onto one of the armchairs. Hestia was talking to someone, who evidently no longer wore the blindfold.

"What do you think?"

"Oh, it's lovely."

"Yeah, well we're staying here for a bit until my parents come home," Hestia answered. James cocked his head, listening curiously. He recognised the voice, but vaguely, and with a faint impression of being screamed at.

"Oh really? Do you mean it, Hest? Who lives here?"

"You'll see!" Hestia swept into the living room, towing in her companion.

James leapt to his feet angrily. "What're you playing at, bringing Evans here?" he accused. Evans spun around to face him.

"What're you doing here?" she snapped, her voice filled with contempt.

James snorted, "I live here. The real question is, what are you doing in my house?"

Evans rounded on Hestia indignantly. "We're staying _here_ for two weeks?"

"WHAT?"

Hestia cleared her throat nervously. "Well, you see, your mother was my mum's best friend, and Dorea is my godmother... So we are staying here, just for two weeks, while my parents are traveling." She was rubbing her foot against the back of her leg, and she looked scared for her life. AS SHE SHOULD BE, James thought irratably.

James huffed and sat back down.

Evans glowered at Hestia. "Hest, I'm going to leave for these next two weeks."

"Your parents are in France and Petunia is at her friend's house," Hestia pointed out.

"I'll apparate."

James snorted. "We are twelve. We are underage and we have not passed our apparation test."

"I've read about the theory, I bet I could do it."

"Well then, aren't you Little Miss Perfect," he drawled, leaning forward with his elbows balanced on his knees. "How about you impress us all with your incredible magic skills when we get back to Hogwarts and do not have the risk of being arrested."

Evans sniffed, "First of all, you can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds and we can't go to Hogsmeade until third year. Second, you do not get hauled off to Azkaban for underage magic, even if it is apparating without the proper license. And thirdly, as much as I would love to rub it into your face that I can apparate at the age of twelve, I'd rather not be expelled after only a year at Hogwarts, so there."

James rolled his eyes. "I can't believe that I have to spend two entire weeks of my summer stuck with you," James grunted.

"Yeah, he can't believe his luck," interjected Sirius, grinning. James growled as he turned, and Sirius bit his lip and ducked as James pounced.

"Hestia," Evans whined, "are you planning to murder me?"

"You know I wouldn't do that. You're my third cousin four times removed on our fathers' side. We're made of the same flesh and blood, Lils, no one would kill family," Hestia assured the red head.

Sirius squirmed away from James, gasping for air. "I wouldn't put it past my family," he panted. He stopped to think, "Come to think of it, I think my grandfather killed his brother to inherit our house."

"Really? What house is worth killing for?" Evans asked, horrified yet intrigued.

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, in London, apparently," Sirius snorted, shoving James' face away to preserve his health. "Personally, I hate that house."

"House? There's nothing but a foot of empty air between eleven and thirteen though!" Hestia exclaimed.

"My dad started putting up all these enchantments. He was supposed to put a Fidelus Charm on it this summer, actually."

"Fidelus Charm?" Evans asked eagerly.

"Spell to make it so no one but the Secret-Keeper can tell where it is. Must not be up yet, or I wouldn't have been able to tell you. You're in on the Secret now," he added smugly. "Take that, Dad!" he yelled to no one in particular. "But yeah, I hate it."

"Why?" James asked.

"Yeah, the Blacks are a super old pureblood family. Had to intermarry to 'keep it pure'. You must be loaded." They were all shocked to find that it had been Evans who spoke. She scowled at them. "So I read, do you have a problem with that?"

Sirius grinned. "Nice to know that you read up on my family, love," he said, winking. James wrinkled his nose at how shameless Sirius was, even though it was hypocritical of him; he had done the same thing to Evans on the train, and several times since. Evans rolled her eyes.

"I read a book on Wizarding Genealogy. A few names popped out to me is all. Like the Potters are a sort of secondary branch, and are related to the-"

James cut her off, "The Peverells, the three brothers in-"

"The Tale of the Three Brothers, in the Tales of Beedle the Bard," Evans finished smugly. He had a feeling she had just done that to get revenge for him cutting her off in the first place.

"And in that tale, the three brothers were met by-" James challenged.

"Death, who pretended to congratulate them and offered them each a prize, and the oldest brother-"

"Asked for a wand worthy of a man who had cheated Death, which brought about the-"

"The Elder Wand, also known as the Deathstick or the-"

"Wand of Destiny, which was famous for being passed down by murder, and the second brother wanted-"

"Something to bring back the dead, hence the Resurrection Stone, and the third brother was-"

"Was the wisest and humblest, and asked for something that would allow him to hide from Death until he was ready to die, so Death handed over-"

"His Invisibility Cloak." Evans watched curiously as James squirmed at the mention of the Invisibility Cloak. He himself had a Cloak like that, from his father, but he wasn't sure which Peverell brother had gotten that, only that he was descended from Ignotus Peverell.

"Aww," Hestia crooned. "They're finishing each other's sentences!"

"Like an old married couple," Sirius agreed, an evil grin plastered across his face.

"Shut it, Black," James snapped. Evans huffed, and he turned to face her. "Good work, Evans. You have obviously done your homework."

"Potter, you've known me for a year," she snorted, "I always do my homework." He nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well then, seeing as I'm stuck with you two for two weeks, I might as well show you around. Don't want to be woken up at midnight because someone has to use the restroom." James began to lead them around each floor, pointing out specifically the bathrooms, two on the first level, two on the second, two on the third. He showed them each of the bedroom doors, seeing as he wasn't supposed to invade the privacy of ever changing of them seemed to stay for more than a night.

He then thundered up the thin staircase to the loft, the other three on his heels.

"And this," he said, spreading his arms out to gesture at the spacious area, "is the loft. This is where we're staying."

The girls stared at him. "As in, all of us?" Hestia asked hesitantly.

"Like, me, Hest, you, and Black?" added Evans, looking horrified.

"Yes," James shrugged.

"In the same room?" clarified Evans, shocked.

Sirius scoffed, "What part of 'yes' is unclear to you, Evans?"

"The part that includes me living in the same room as YOU guys for two whole weeks," she retorted snottily.

Hestia whimpered, "But why?"

James sighed. "My parents have Aurors over practically every night, and anyone under age is to stay in the loft, because the rooms are always needed and there's always at least one drinking contest followed by at least one very heated discussion about what Quidditch team is the best and at least three people are extremely grumpy in the mornings due to a hangover and the fact that they all get up at four in the morning." Evans snickered, but swallowed.

"So... This is awkward."

"Why?" Sirius asked. The girls stared at him as though he were crazy. Which he was, but he was perfectly sane in this matter.

Hestia cleared her throat uncertainly. "Well... There is the fact that we're girls."

"We were pretty certain on that point, thanks," James answered sarcastically.

"And you two, we assume, are boys."

"What do you mean, you assume!?" Sirius yelped leaping up.

"Well we don't have any proof, for all we know you could be girls, you certainly act like one sometimes," Evans pointed out.

"Do you want proof?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

The girls screamed and leapt away, screaming, "Merlin no!" and covering their eyes.

"I don't see what the big deal is," James protested. Hestia stared at him with shock and Evans with disgust. He flushed, "No, not that, Merlin no, I meant about you staying in the loft with us."

Evans whined, "What if you snore?"

"I do not snore!"

"Actually, mate-"

"Shut up, Sirius."

"She has a good point though," Hestia said. "What if you two have odd sleeping habits, like talking, walking, or, Merlin save me, sleep in less than you should?" Sirius and James both snickered at their discomfort.

"Well, is there anything else you want here or will you be leaving?"

Evans practically sprinted down the three flights of stairs and fled out the door, with Hestia at her heels.

Sirius and James howled with laughter at their retreating backs.

"We are going to have so much fun," Sirius sighed.

"They have no idea how we can use their innocence against them," James agreed, gasping for air and clutching to the couch so as to stagger to his feet. Sirius chuckled and they went back to the basement, to finish their now lukewarm breakfast.

* * *

A few days later, James woke, feeling a disturbance in his universe. He tromped downstairs to the living room, leaving behind a complaining Sirius, and found his parents sitting in the living room. They looked so natural, with Charlus reading the Daily Prophet and Dorea eating cookies.

"Mum, how come you get to eat sweet stuff in the mornings and I can't?" James demanded, plopping down on the couch next to her. Her milk slopped over the rim of her glass and spilled all over her lap. His father glanced up, chuckled, and returned his attention to the newspaper.

She scowled at him. "Because I'm your mother."

"Why are you here?" James asked, before frowning. "Mum, what did your engagement ring look like? Dad, what is your Patronus?" he followed, remembering what his parents had taught him; if they were behaving out of the ordinary, make sure that they're not impostors.

"It was a silver sword with a ruby hilt, twisted to look like a ring," Dorea answered, almost bored, "it's the Potter family engagement ring."

Charlus shook out the Prophet as he replied, "A grizzly bear."

James nodded as Sirius popped into the living room and seated himself in the armchair next to Charlus'.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, lounging upside down.

Dorea glanced at him. "Sirius, don't do that or all your blood will rush to your head." Sirius pouted and righted himself in the squashy armchair.

Charlus answered Sirius' question, "Some people are coming to stay today, we're making sure they get settled."

James and Sirius both groaned. Dorea frowned. "They are nice and you are to behave. Both of you. We won't be around much after today to make sure that they're comfortable, and they're staying for-"

James interrupted, "Two weeks," pouting.

They nodded, knowing James' knack of finding things out before he was supposed to. They didn't question it, but returned to what they were doing before.

The doorbell rang. Then again and again.

James could just imagine Evans smirking as she rammed her finger against the button repeatedly. The four of them rose and crossed to the door a a group. James' father flung open the door, and Sirius and James hung back in the shadows, blinking against the bright light filtering in from outside.

Hestia waltzed it, embracing both of James' parents fondly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, I'd like to introduce my friend, Lily Evans," she said pleasantly, though James snickered as she tugged a hesitating Evans into the house.

James' father frowned. "... Evans?"

Mrs. Potter elbowed him in the ribs. "Hello, Lily, I'm Dorea Potter, this is my husband Charlus." Evans scuffed the back of her elf with her foot.

"Hi," she murmured shyly, before offering her hand.

James, as well as Evans, was shocked when both his parents enveloped her in a hug at once. "Oh, ok..." she blinked, hugging them back. James would never admit it, but he felt a pang of jealous tat how well she seemed to get along with his parents, when he couldn't even seem to talk to her without it concluding in a screaming match and bruises for both of them.

James flushed angrily when he heard his father laugh, "Pictures don't do you justice, Miss Evans," as he shut the door behind Mrs. Jones.

Evans looked at him, confused. "Uhm... It's Lily, please, Mr. Potter."

"Charlie," he laughed. "Mr. Potter is my old man." He mused, "Though he would say the same thing if you asked him..." Lily grinned, and she began to converse with James' father-_James' father-_about Quidditch.

Suddenly, he called, "You two, get over here. Be gentlemen."

James grumbled, "Funny, that's the second time I've been told to do that for Evans." But he made sure no one but Sirius heard. James scoffed, "It's nice to see you finally remembered me, Dad," but at his father's expression, he hastily added, "Hello, Hestia." He glanced at his father, who was silently scolding him. They had a silent battle of wills before James relented, "Evans."

Sirius obviously would rather remain on the Potters' good side, because he cheerfully greeted, "Hestia! Evans! How are you?"

Evans cocked an eyebrow. "Hullo, Black, I'm fine. Hullo, Potter," she added as an afterthought.

James felt a rush of annoyance a he saw his father chuckle and ruffle Evans' hair, leaving it tangled and sticking up in all directions.

"What're you playing at, getting along with my old man?" he teased.

Apparently, Charlus heard James' comment; "I am _NOT_ old!"

"You're just jealous," Evans giggled, "cause your dad likes me more than you." She stuck her tongue out at him and pranced away, arm in arm with Hestia. Sirius snickered, and James promptly shoved him into a wall.

Wrong time to do that, obviously. "James Charlus Potter, hands to yourself," his mother scolded.

"Yes, mum," he agreed cheerfully. When she had walked away, he made a face at her retreating back. Sirius silently laughed and skipped away, tugging a stumbling James behind him.

Hestia and Evans were seated on a love seat, facing James' parents in front of there fire. James and Sirius simultaneously threw themselves onto the love seat on either side of the girls, so that they were all squashed together between the arms of the couch. James personally didn't mind; he was plenty skinny, it didn't affect him too much. Dorea shot a dirty look in his direction, which he countered with an innocent one that probably looked all too forced, but neither of them said anything. Charlus was enraptured by Evans' description of a thing called a juicer.

"So, what you're saying is, you put fruits and things in the top, then it barfs out juice?" asked the man, his elbows on his knees and his chin supported in his cupped hands.

Evans laughed. "More or less, yeah. 'Cept, it's a bit less appetising when you put it like that." James felt a laugh bubble up in his throat, but refused to let it out.

Dorea glanced at the watch on her wrist. "Charlus, hon, we have to go. We have that raid in Wiltshire..." Comprehension dawned on Charlus' face and he leapt to his feet.

"Sorry, girls, duty calls. Shame we won't be seeing you more often, but I'm sure that Jamesie-poo and Sirius won't mind keeping you company!" he called over his shoulder, slamming the door behind him and his wife.

Evan cocked an eyebrow at James. "Jamesie-poo?"

"See? I'm not the only one who calls you that!" exclaimed Sirius, rounding on James. James flushed and slumped back.

At least, he tried to, but he was still squished between the arm and Evans.

"Well, this is cozy," he said, smirking, she rolled her eyes and squeezed between James and Hestia to rest against the cushions.

"This is going to be a really, really, _really_ long two weeks," she groaned, her eyes closed tight.

James caught Sirius' eye over Hestia's head, and they both snickered at the girl's discomfort.


	7. Closets, Rummy, and Soaps

"Well then. Sleeping arrangements," James stated, not wasting time with trivialities. Evans' jaw clenched almost imperceptibly, but she nodded with a look in her eyes that James associated with an Auror who knew that he/she was going to die and had accepted it. It was a look that James knew all too well.

"Well, I don't mind sharing with James if it comes to that-"

"No," Evans decided immediately. "I will not sleep in either of your beds, thanks, I'll sleep on the floor."

James considered her. "Hestia, you going to pull an Evans and kip on the carpet, or do you want my bed? I'll sleep on the floor."

Hestia considered it, then plopped down on the bed. James nodded.

"Evans, come with me," he muttered, beckoning.

She looked him over, suspicion clear in her eyes. "... Why?"

"To get the blankets, Evans, Merlin, you'd think I'd done something horrible to you."

"That's because you have."

"Don't pretend to be innocent, I still have the scars."

Evans regarded him smugly. "Good."

James rolled his eyes, then gestured for her to follow him down the stairs to the extra bedding closet. She skipped down the stairs and cheerily swiped a few sheets from the closet. James fought the urge to roll his eyes at her retreating back before doing the same. He had a sinking feeling when he stepped into the loft to find the other three sitting in a circle, with an empty spot for him between Hestia and Evans.

He dropped warily. "Sirius..."

"Evans!" the boy exclaimed without any indication that he had heard James. "Truth or-"

"No!" James snapped.

"Gosh, I was going to say Truth or the Closet, cranky face. No need to get your knickers in a twist."

"The closet?" Evans gasped, looking scandalized. James glared at Sirius, who pretended not to notice. It was just like Sirius to come up with some sick, twisted game like that. He was quite sure that the four of them would be spilling quite a few secrets within the next few hours or so.

Evans closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "Can I know what the truth is before I make my decision?"

"No," inserted Hestia smugly. Evans glowered at her before sagging.

"Truth, am I going to regret this..." she muttered the last part to herself. James snickered at her discomfort.

Sirius leaned back thoughtfully. He then answered, "Why do you hang out with the slimeball, Snivellus?"

Evans glowered at him before curtly replying, "He was my first link to the magical world."

Hestia frowned, but said nothing. Sirius cocked his head, very still as though he were a dog trying to locate an elusive noise. James harrumphed and crossed his arms.

"Potter, Truth or the Closet?" she shattered the silence.

James narrowed his eyes, "Well, let's see, what are the rules for the closet?"

Hestia smirked, "You have to take the person of the same gender as yourself into the closet and snog for thirty seconds. You are welcome to save up till the end and use up all of your snog time then, but it would be much longer."

James paled and hastily begged Evans, "Truth, merciful Merlin, truth!" The girls snickered at Sirius' mock offended expression.

"Why do you hate Severus so much?" Evans demanded of him.

James swallowed. A nagging voice in the back of his head hissed, _Because he's friends with Lily._ He mentally shook himself. Why would that matter to him? And since when was she Lily? The answer: never. He cast around in the depths of his mind for an answer. _Because he's a Slytherin?_ No, he hated the git starting the train ride to Hogwarts. Then again, he had talked of Slytherin house with a lot of reverence, but still, that would not be his answer. _BecaUse of his obsession with the Dark Arts?_ Yes, that was it. It was definitely why he detested the boy; James had never approved of the Dark Arts, he had spent hours the previous summer poring over his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, learning of defensive jinxes and their counter-curses to prepare himself.

He cleared his throat. "Snivellus? Because he's obsessed with the Dark Arts," James said, his voice exuding confidence that he wasn't completely certain that he felt.

Evans glowered at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I've heard you tell him off for making up dangerous spells. You and I both know you hate it."

"That's none of your concern, Potter, so don't start making it out to be."

"It's not my concern, no, but I still have every reason to be concerned when there are people practicing dark magic in a school full of people they are prejudiced against!"

Evans blinked. "What do you mean?"

Sirius stared at her. "Don't you know-"

"No," Hestia interrupted, "it's for her own good."

"Well she needs to know from people who care rather than people who want to hurt her!" Sirius protested. "We should tell her."

"I'm right here you know."

"She doesn't need to know right now, so bugger off. Just leave it alone, Sirius."

"No! There are people at Hogwarts, like my cousin Narcissa and her boyfriend, and people already graduated like Bellatrix and her fiancée. People who want to follow You-Know-Who, and-"

"Voldemort." They stared at Evans. "His name," she continued softly, "is Voldemort."

"That took plenty of courage," James breathed. She shrugged.

"Well then, anyways, people who want to join, er, Voldemort and who are prejudiced because of-"

"Shut _UP_ Black!" screeched Hestia. "She doesn't need to know, it's not her burden to bear!"

"It has been ever since she learned about the Wizarding World!"

"That's where you're wrong! Lily was perfectly fine not knowing and I don't want to hurt her!"

"I'm still right here!"

"Hestia! Truth or the closet!"

Everyone started at James' outburst, but Hestia seemed grateful for the subject change, though Sirius was livid. James personally agreed, but was hesitant to tell her. If she didn't know, well then, why ruin her happiness while it lasted?

"Truth."

"Do you absolutely, unconditionally, and with reckless abandon love Sirius?"

"No."

Sirius pouted at her, and she grinned evilly, which made her nose scrunch up and her eyes narrow.

"Sirius, truth or the closet?"

"The closet!" he crowed, beaming around at their shocked and disgusted faces. James hid his face in his hands as Sirius bounded to his feet and dragged the poor boy off to the closet.

"Kay, so we're just gonna make sounds like we are snogging, kay? See how much it gets their pretty little heads worrying."

James snickered and nodded, and they seated themselves on the floor, with jackets brushing at their shoulders and shoes sticking into their tailbones. They proceeded to make highly exaggerated snogging noises, but they doubted that the girls could tell the difference; Evans, at least, was much too innocent for that, though James honestly wouldn't put it past Hestia.

After about fifteen seconds, the door was practically ripped off its hinges. "Merlin you two, don't have to be so-" Hestia began, "... loud about it..." She trailed off when she saw the two boys sitting on the carpet, snickering maliciously. Evans snorted in her attempts to hold in her laughter.

"Come now, Evans, don't be such a party pooper, live a little," James chided. She made a face at him.

Sirius staggered to his feet, recovering from his bought of laughter, and brushed off his rear like he faked snogging every day. "Say, Evans, we need to have a nickname for you."

"I don't want-"

"I have plenty, you can choose from those!" Hestia exclaimed eagerly. Sirius brightened and gestured for her to continue. James chuckled evilly as he listened. "Lils, Petal, Flower, Lilsy, LilyBean, TigerLily-"

"Wait that's it!" Sirius interrupted triumphantly.

James added, "By George, I think he's got it!"

Evans regarded them warily. "... Got what?"

The two boys winked at each other, before chorusing, "Princess TigerLily!"

"Like," she mused, wrinkling her nose, "the Native princess from the American Disney movie, about pixie dust and never growing up?"

The other three people in the room stared at her as though she had just sprouted eight more heads. "Whaaaaaaaat?"

Evans rolled her eyes, "Never mind, anyone care to play rummy?"

She, busy with pulling a deck of cards out of her bag, didn't notice the silence that followed her suggestion.

When she straightened up, James hesitantly asked, "... What's rummy?"

Evans stared at him with wonder and astonishment, "Gosh, I thought everyone knew how to play rummy!"

"Does it have anything to do with rum?"

"No, Black, no need to sound so eager about drinking."

"Well then, how do you play?" The four seated themselves on the floor as Evans dealt out the cards.

"We'll play hands down for the first round, so that I can teach you... See, the number cards are worth five points each, the face cards are ten, the ace is fifteen, and the Queen of Spades is worth forty. The object of the game is to be the first person to run out of cards, and the others' cards count against their score. You add up scores and no matter who ends the game, anyone technically has a chance of winning."

"Like Quidditch!" James interrupted.

Evans watched him strangely. "Yeah, kind of... Anyways, you have the top card in the deck face up, and..."

* * *

Later that night, James awoke with a jolt. He struggled to lean up on his arms, sweating profusely, as he tried to remember what had awoken him.

He blinked, but couldn't remember. He glanced around the room. James' stomach lurched when he saw that Evans' bed was empty. He scrambled to his feet and pushed his glasses on, reassuring himself with, _She's probably just in the bathroom._

He staggered down the stairs, like he had seen so many drunken Aurors do in the past, and made his way to the kitchen.

He was shocked, and at the same time relieved, to find Evans perched on the table, with her back to him. Her dark red hair was messy, but still beautiful... _Wait where did that come from?!_

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. She spun around, wrinkling her nose at him. He glanced down to see that his shirt was drenched in sweat. He looked back up at her.

"Whachoo doin here?" slurred James. He was tired.

With a noncommittal shrug, she answered, "Couldn't sleep."

"How come?"

"Well, you were thrashing about in your sleep, sweating all over the place and muttering 'noooooooo', and Sirius snores." She smirked at him, and he felt his face heat up. "What about you?"

"Bad dream," James said, shrugging, trying to act as though he didn't care.

He failed miserably.

Evans shifted on the table. "Care to share?"

James decided, _it couldn't hurt, _and sat down in one of the chairs. It was strange, looking up at Evans when she was shorter than him by a head, but he pushed the thought aside. "Well, I was... I was here, and you and Hestia and Sirius were, too, and my parents were gone, like they are now. But, we were all a lot older, like seventeen or something, and we were just sitting in the living room. Then the house blew up, and all I could hear was cold, cruel laughter before I woke up."

Evans didn't say anything, but instead continued to spoon whatever it was she was eating into her mouth. He looked at it closely. "Merlin, Evans, I knew you weren't natural, but I never suspected that you were a zombie..."

"I'm not a zombie."

"Then how come you're eating brains?"

"I'm not, it's riisipuroa."

"Whaaaaat?"

"Rice pudding."

"How come it's pinkish purpleish?"

"Blackberry sauce."

James wrinkled his nose. "I don't like rice pudding."

"Well you obviously haven't tried riisipuroa."

"And I can live with that," James grumbled, pushing his chair away. Evans scowled at him and hopped off the table, landing right in front of him. She stumbled the slightest bit into him, but then grinned.

"You, Mr. James Potter," she sang softly, "will not leave this room without trying."

"Watch me." James started to rise, but was forced back down on his chair by a weight in his lap. "Well, Evans, I knew you liked me, but I never realized how far your fanciment went..." he whispered suggestively.

Evans scoffed, "Normally I would slap you for a comment like that, but I have more pressing matters to deal with right now." She pressed a forearm against his neck, and he opened his mouth to protest, but his words were stopped by a gooey, sweet deliciousness that was shoved into his mouth.

He clamped down on the rice pudding, and swallowed as Evans pulled the spoon out. She wiped it on the hem of his shirt before placing it back inside the bowl, lifting another spoonful to her mouth.

"Gimme that."

"No, it's mine, but I told you so."

"Yes, you did, now gimme."

"No." James snatched for it and she turned her back on him. Evans made to stand, but James wasn't going to let her escape with his rice pudding. He grabbed her waist with one arm and snatched for the bowl with the other.

Evans squeaked as she found herself seated once again in James' lap. She scowled at him. Well, not at him, but for him.

"Well this is cozy, isn't it?" James breathed, his chin perched on her shoulder.

"No, it's not. You can keep the pudding if you let me go."

"No, no, I think I'm going to keep you prisoner, until you agree to do one thing."

"What's that one thing?"

"Evans, my darling, will you accompany me to the park tomorrow?"

"Will Black and Hestia be there?"

"Maybe, but probably off doing their own thing."

"Are you asking me on a date?" demanded Evans, a dangerous lilt to her voice.

James was not to be daunted by her threatening tone. "Why yes, love, I think I am," he whispered. He saw a tiny flash in the corner of his eye, but he ignored it.

It was soon forgotten when there was a sharp pain in his shin, followed by an absence of a now-comfortable weight in his lap. He felt a rush of cold air hit him as she leapt away.

"Never," spat Evans as she walked away.

"Oh, and Evans?" James called after her. She froze in the doorway. He weighed the pros and cons of telling her what he was about to tell her. "You are going to be a gorgeous seventeen year old."

She stalked out the door, and flounced up the stairs.

James finished the rice pudding in peace before placing the bowl in the sink and following her.

When he laid back down in his makeshift bed, he turned to face Evans, resting his head on his shoulder. She was already asleep, just three or four meters away, and a slightly unwelcome thought struck him._ I've never seen anything more beautiful_.

* * *

Sunlight filtered in across his face. Everything was immensely blurry, so he felt around for his glasses. He was startled to find that he couldn't move one of his arms. When the wireframe circle glasses were settled rightly on his nose, he looked around. James started as he found his arm underneath Evans' head.

_No wonder I couldn't move it._ He cleared his throat uncertainly. Evans shifted on his arm, clutching it as she moved closer to James. James prodded her shoulder. "Evans, you have to wake up. You have to free my arm."

Evans rolled into James, causing him to fall over. "No, I... I don't... Wanna get up..." she muttered.

He found Sirius and Hestia standing off to the side, Sirius slicking pictures. He pleaded, "Help."

Sirius and Hestia grinned, watching his discomfort for another minute or so, before Hestia took pity, "Lily Evans you must get up right now or you'll miss Transfiguration."

Evans shot up with a wild look in her eyes. James gingerly pulled his sore arm to him, muttering, "About time."

She glanced around and jumped at his closeness.

"What are you playing at?" she demanded.

James snorted. "Nothing, you confiscated my arm and used it as a pillow," he snapped. Evans screamed and ducked underneath the blankets.

"What else did I do?" came the muffled plea.

Sirius smiled wickedly. "I have a picture!" he crowed. Evans popped out of the blankets, much closer to James than she had been prior to burrowing beneath the blankets. They leapt away from each other, and Sirius settled between them. "Here you go, Princess TigerLily, here is proof of your actions." He showed them the picture. James saw himself wake up and put his glasses on, then jump at Evans' use of his arm at a pillow. He heard Hestia snicker behind them. Evans watched with growing horror as she not only refused to wake, but snuggled into James.

She screamed again and scrambled away. Sirius snickered and took his stack of pictures from the year and moved away. James glared at him as he pulled a red scrapbook from his bag and opened it to the first page. James shivered as Sirius began artfully placing pictures on the pages.

"Anyone want to walk to the neighborhood park?" suggested James. "It's only, like, ten minutes away walking. It's a Wizarding park, too, so there's brooms and stuff. Muggle protection charms on every inch of it, for the Statute of Secrecy and all that."

Hestia nodded eagerly and pulled on shoes. Evans harrumphed and swept into the bathroom.

"Don't take too long, Evans! There are other people here, you know!"

"I'm aware of that!"

James pulled himself from the sheets that were tangled up in his feet and dragged said feet over to the closet and picked random clothes. Who cares about clothes anyways?

His mum.

By the time James was done and had slumped onto the bed to wait, Evans left the bathroom accompanied by a puff of steam that wafted about the room. It smelled faintly of vanilla and roses. James groaned, as he had just sat down, and pushed himself up to haul himself into the bathroom.

He groped for his bottle of shampoo and dumped it on his hair before messing up his wet hair to lather it up. He caught a whiff of it. Vanilla. Roses. Evans.

He let out a strangled groan before rinsing it out of his hair. He grabbed a much more manly feeling bottle of body wash to drown out the scent.

Aftershave. Smoke. James sighed. _Oh, the joys of being half blind_, he thought sarcastically. He had used Sirius' body wash in his haste to rid himself of Evans' scent.

He felt around for a much more familiar feeling bottle and upended it all over himself. He contentedly breathed in the scents of freshly mown grass and dewy pines. His own scent. He then rinsed off and snatched up a towel. He then got dressed and put his glasses on, his hair still damp and sticking up everywhere, as always.

"You guys really have to take your soap out of the shower."

Sirius sniggered. "Oh, but you smell lovely."

Evans narrowed her eyes. "How in Merlin's beard did you manage to use my shampoo?!"

"I'm half blind," whined James. Hestia roared with laughter.

"At least you don't smell like me!" she panted through peals of laughter.

James regarded her curiously. "Why, what do you smell like?"

"Coconuts and pineapples!"

James groaned, "I stepped in a puddle of that..." The others doubled over, gasping for a breath between laughs. Casting around for a subject change, he said, "Can we go now?"

They left, and, after five minutes of silence, Evans remarked, "Your hair smells wonderful."

"Funny how a mixture of vanilla, roses, grass, and pine trees can manage to smell so good," James replied sarcastically, not realizing that Evans wasn't being sarcastic at all.

"Oh, is that what it is?" she exclaimed, leaning up on her tiptoes to smell his head. "You're right, it is a strange combination."

She then proceeded to skip ahead, leaving James to wonder what had just happened.


	8. Back Again

September first again. James was going back to Hogwarts, back to homework, to Slytherins, to books and parchment and ink-splattered noses. Back to all-nighters, back to detentions, and back to lessons.

And all James could think was _finally_.

Ever since Sirius had left at the end of July, James had waited anxiously for the start of school. He had been shut in his room for the past month, scribbling away for hours on end. All that could be heard in the room was the scratching of a quill, his owl, and his own thoughts. He had seen the boys when they went to Diagon Alley, but that was only a few hours.

They had all agreed on one thing: written correspondence was absolutely no substitute for friends.

So, on September first, he bounced as he waited for his parents to take him to Kings Cross by Side-Along Apparation. He tried to run when they prolonged his departure with hugs and kisses and all of that other nastiness. In his excitement and desperation to leave, he shoved his parents back through the brick barrier and raced towards the meeting place with his trolley.

To his delight, Sirius was already there.

"Hi!" he called. Sirius spun around, his black locks bouncing about his face, and his features split into a grin.

"Jamsie-poo!" he screeched, running forward and flinging himself into James' unsuspecting arms. James flushed as people laughed.

A familiar snicker drew their attention. Sirius once again turned and grinned. "Reemie-pie!" Remus was knocked onto his face by his attempts to escape his fate. Sirius had tackled him. "Oh I missed you!" he gushed.

"Let go, you loon!" Remus gasped, squirming in Sirius' grasp. The laughs that were floating from the crowd increased in volume.

Suddenly, Sirius spotted someone else. "Oh, Petey-bird, it's been too long!" With that, he launched himself off of Remus and into the crowd, where a squeal could be heard as Peter tried to run.

James roared with laughter at his friend's antics as he hoisted Remus to his feet. The two boys laughed together as they watched Sirius catch Peter, sweeping him off his feet.

"We should probably go help him," Remus gasped, clutching a stitch in his side, and James nodded as he gulped for breath, his hands balanced on his knees. They started jogging towards the ecstatic Sirius and the struggling Peter when said Peter was dropped.

Sirius bounced away. "Oh, my Princess TigerLily, my fair maiden, my darling, Jamesie-poo has been pining since you left! You must come give him a proper hello," he declared gallantly, snatching Evans' hand and kissing it lightly before tugging her towards the other three boys.

James flushed even redder, if that was possible, as Sirius laughingly dragged a resistant Evans along towards them. "Jamesie-poo, give your one true love a proper hello," Sirius demanded brightly. When neither of them moved, thoughts of malice coursing through James' head, he added, "A proper kiss would do the trick."

James groaned and turned away, his face in his hands to hide the pink flooding into his face. SIRIUS... he thought with vengeful feelings.

"Oh, come now, don't be like that!" chastised Remus, tugging James' hands away and driving him to face Evans again. "Give your fair maiden a kiss, or some scandalous knight in rusting armour might snatch her away!"

James complained, "The scandalous knight in rusting armour can have her!" Evans snickered at his discomfort, but her glee was ended abruptly with the arrival of Hestia.

"Oh, Lils, you don't want some random blonde stealing off your prince, now do you? Come on, a quick hello snog!" James found Evans pressed against him, and they both struggled to escape with renewed vigour.

A snide voice floated over their heads, "Jones, you don't want to contaminate her." James' eyes narrowed when he recognised the greasy voice.

"Yeah, Snivellus, that's why Evans is being shoved into me, not you." James watched as the object of this jibe flushed.

Hestia grinned at the four boys thankfully, a smile that Evans didn't see because she was too busy glaring at the same four people. Snivellus came to stand beside them, and Hestia pushed almost imperceptibly harder, and, acting on instinct, James grabbed Evans' elbows. She flinched, but James only held on harder.

"Let go of her," Snivellus breathed.

James snapped, "You'll have to pry her from my cold, dead hands." With that, he whisked her away and almost didn't catch Snivellus' reply of "Gladly."

James, keeping a tight grip on her waist, turned her to face forwards and he spun around to run backwards. He shook her back and forth slightly and tauntingly sang, "Come and get her, Snivellus." When he made no move, James prodded further. "Come on, Snivellus, come get Evans or she'll be mine forever!" He swung back around and ran, shifting his grip to carry her bridal-style as he tore through the station, with Snivellus at his heels.

Evans screamed all the way.

James ignored the small fists pounding on his chest as he swept her onto the train and he slipped quickly into a compartment. When Evans opened her mouth to alert Snivellus of her whereabouts, he covered her mouth swiftly. He winced when she licked his hand, but didn't remove it like most people would've, and sat down. He let her go only after the other Marauders had joined him and the train started moving, knowing that Hestia would've gotten her trunk. Also, Sirius and Remus both assured Evans that that was the case.

As soon as Evans left, James quickly wiped his hand on Sirius' jacket.

"What was that for?"

"Do you have any idea how many times a person can lick your hand during twenty minutes?!"

"Ewewewewew..." Sirius muttered. "Now I'm contaminated with Essence of Evans!" Remus snickered sinisterly, which led Sirius to shrug off his jacket and smearing it all over Remus' face. Remus shrieked and buried his face in Peter's sweatshirt. Peter scrunched up his nose and threw the sweatshirt at James, and they ended up just dropping it on the floor by the door.

"So, my dad taught me this really annoying song over break, and I thought that maybe we could go into the Great Hall singing that. We'd have to make sure we're in the very last carriage, so that we can make an entrance."

Sirius sat forward eagerly. "Well how's it go?"

"I'm going to sing it quietly now, but later we're going to have to be really loud. This is how it goes..."

* * *

"I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES! I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES AND THIS IS HOW IT GOES!" *take dramatically deep breath here* "I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES!..." The Marauders paraded into the Great Hall, their arms around each other's shoulders, singing at the tops of their lungs. James thought evil thoughts while people laughed. THEY WONT BE LAUGHING FOR LONG... And sure enough, the laughter slowly died out and turned to groans as the song continued until the Marauders sat down.

Dumbledore chuckled as he announced, "First years, older students, may I please present Hogwarts' resident jokesters, the, er-"

Remus stood on the bench, and shouted, "The Marauders!"

Sirius joined him, declaring, "Purveyors of Aid to Magical Mischief-Makers Eveywhere-"

"Since 1971!" James concluded, leaping up to stand beside them.

Finally, little Peter clambered up next to them and yelled, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!"

And, before sitting down, they smugly finished with, "Mischief Managed!" They had rehearsed it on the train, but Dumbledore's acknowledgement was a stroke of luck; he had given them the spotlight long enough to vow their undying mischief.

The Great Hall erupted in a mixture of mirth and groaning, which the Marauders delighted in, as Dumbledore said, "Yes, yes, the Marauders, Hogwarts' very own resident jokesters!"

James waited anxiously for the Sorting to be finished, his knee bouncing, and attacked the foods that appeared on the plates when Dumbledore released them with words of randomness, such as "nitwit" and "oddment".

The boys jumped when a cold presence settled between Sirius and James. James felt as though his right arm had been submerged in ice water, but he wasn't wet. He looked over to see a very bright, very evil looking, and very transparent person beside them.

"Hey, what brings you to our humble eating place?" Remus asked, leaning forward.

"Well, you can't make trouble without me, not in Hogwarts!" cackled the poltergeist.

"Oh, Peeves, we're honored!" Sirius praised. "Never has Hogwarts seen such a poltergeist as yourself!"

James, recognizing Sirius' joke, followed with, "To think that you chose us, out of all of these troublesome people, to work alongside you as you wreak havoc!" Peter wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, and Peeves beamed.

"Oh, I like you four! Not only are you willing to declare your troublesomeness for the world to hear, but you're sarcastic! Oh, we will be pranking quite nicely!"

"Hey Peeves," Remus said thoughtfully, "What if, as a start-of-year prank, we let you into Gryffindor Tower? Just the common room, you know, you could dump Flammable Ink in the fire, and glue some unsuspecting feet to the carpet, and all that! It would be perfect!"

Peeves literally began to glow with pride. "Oh, Peevesie can do that for sure! I would be honored to make chaos for the Gryffindor common room!"

Sirius added, "Be sure to be invisible. Dumbledore would be furious if he found out it was you, so we have to make it seem like we did it, which is the biggest part of the prank. You can do whatever you want, but be sneaky."

"Yeah, and- wait, have you seen any of our pranks before?" James asked. When Peeves nodded eagerly, James continued, "Good. Make sure that there are some traits that make it obvious that it was us. And, maybe for Christmas, we can find out the password to the Slytherin common room. You can decorate it," he concluded maliciously.

Peeves cackled with delight and swooped away. The Marauders turned back to their food, swollen with pride. Despite their sarcasm earlier, they really were proud that Peeves had chosen them to ally with. James had a feeling that they had a very exciting year ahead of them.

* * *

Sirius flopped down onto the velvety, worn fabric of one of the squashy armchairs by the fire. The Gryffindor common room was peaceful, but James snickered as he thought, _NOT FOR LOOOOOONG!_ He and the other Marauders prodded Sirius out of the armchair and into their old dorm.

"Why can't I be down there?" whined Sirius.

"Because, if we are down there, then Peeves will get the blame. If we're up here, then they'll assume it was us cause they can't see us," reasoned Remus as he began to unpack. James followed suit, figuring that he might as well make some use of his time, even if it was a bad way to spend the next ten minutes. Sirius rummaged in his trunk a bit before pulling out, to James' and Remus' astonishment, his spellbooks and setting them up on his nightstand.

"Who're you and what've you done to Sirius Black?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Guys!" Peter hissed. "Peeves is nearly done, it looks like!"

The others tripped over themselves in excitement. "Really? What's he done?" James whispered excitedly.

Peter looked at them quizzically, and Remus explained in hushed tones, "We can't look like we're surprised or it'll be ruined." Peter nodded.

"He did the Flammable ink, so the common room is a bit smoky, and there are a couple of tables glued to the ceiling with the homework hanging off of it. The ink bottles were stuck to the table so they're dumping ink everywhere. He also has a few baskets of water balloons all over the place, positioned where people will trigger them trying to get away!"

"Wow," breathed Sirius. "He really does know his stuff."

"He's done it perfectly, too," Remus praised. "I don't think he was lying when he said he'd seen our other pranks!"

James swelled with pride. "Well let's get down there, then!" He threw open the door and swaggered down the boys' staircase, Sirius next to him and Remus and Peter on their heels. When they reached the very bottom, they surveyed Peeves' work, with what James hoped was a smug _I planned this and rocked it_ expression.

It obviously worked, because they earned several glares from people with frizzy hair and ink-splattered clothes. There were soaking students all around, wringing their hair (first years) or siphoning the water away with their wands (everyone else).

Professor McGonagall picked this inopportune moment to enter Gryffindor Tower. James fought the urge to squeal and hide, but instead smiled up at her like all was well in the world. Which it wasn't. Nothing was well in the world with a crazy purist running about killing people off.

He could hear Remus give a tiny gulp, and Peter shuffling his feet, and he could feel Sirius quivering next to him, but so faintly that only James could tell.

"What," she hissed, "in Merlin's name," James flinched at the venom in her tone, "is this."

All four of them gulped as they slowly began to back away as one. James could feel Remus' panicked breathing hot on the back of his neck and was painfully aware of Peter's shuffling.

It was Remus who first found his voice.

"Well, you see, Professor, it was our back to school prank..." he mumbled, scuffing his toes against the carpet. James couldn't help but thank Merlin over and over that they at least had found their voices.

Sirius cleared his throat rather awkwardly and added, "Kick start the year, you know, get people's cogs moving."

"Yeah," James cracked a nervous grin, "wouldn't want people zoning out on the very first day of school, now would we?"

"It'd be a crine shame," sighed Peter dramatically, his hand resting over his heart, and James couldn't help but glow with pride at their friend's renewed daring over the summer.

McGonagall stared them down for a bit, trying to find a hole in their seamless cover up, then waved her wand, returning everything to normal. She then stalked out of the common room, leaving the boys to the wrath of the other Gryffindors.

"Heh. Hiya, guys... Nice day for Quidditch, eh?" James rambled nervously, backing up to the boys' staircase. He glanced at his nonexistent watch. "Oh wow, would you look at the time! Really must get to bed, boys, big day ahead!" He turned and sprinted up the stairs, Sirius, Remus, and Peter at his heels and a crowd of angry Gryffindors on their tails.

Once everyone was in the dormitory, they threw themselves against the door. It shuddered with the force that the other students were exerting on it.

"Well," Sirius panted, "doesn't seem like we'll be getting much sleep tonight, eh?"

Remus laughed, "No. I don't suppose we will. Nothing I'm not used to, though." Then he paled considerably, as though he had let something slip.

"Whaddya mean, you're used to not getting a lot of sleep?" inquired Peter. "You sleep like a baby!"

James scrutinised Remus, who shrunk back the slightest bit. "Do you not sleep when you're visiting your mother?" he asked.

James didn't really believe that Remus went to see his mother every month. He hadn't voiced his concerns, because he didn't want to be wrong. But he thought that there was something much more serious going on every month, that Remus was hiding something very important.

Remus, however, seemed a little grateful at James' question, though the expression was so fleeting that James wasn't certain that he had actually seen it rather than imagined it. "Yeah. I spend most of the night awake."

Sirius grunted, "That's sweet, I would never do that for my dear old mum. In fact, I'd be partying and refuse to come home, now that I think of it," he mused.

Peter merely shrugged, probably not wishing to waste breath on a response that could be better used towards keeping the door shut.

* * *

"Remus!" a feminine voice hissed. Remus jumped and spun around. James welcomed the distraction; Remus had tricked them all into going into the library, so James was researching Patronuses. Each corporeal Patronus reflected the person's personality. James wondered what his would be. He hoped that it was something manly.

Evans beckoned to Remus frantically, looking around.

James watched quizzically. He began to rise, but Evans waved him back down. He frowned at Remus, who promptly began a heated, mimed argument.

Remus: *points empathically at James, Sirius, and Peter

Evans: *shakes head vigorously

Remus: *repeats gesture with more urgency

Evans: *pleads desperately

Remus: *sags and nods before waving off the Marauders and following Evans

James watched their exchange with growing curiosity.

"Jealous, Jamesie-poo?"

"No. Shut up."

"Oooh, we're irritable, are we?"

"Shut up, Sirius."

"SHHHHHHHH!"

James and Sirius simultaneously flashed a charming grin Madame Pince's way and waited for Remus to return.

When he did, he was visibly shaken. Evans glanced around before hurriedly striding away.

"What'd she want?" Sirius demanded.

James added, "And where was her pet slimeball?"

"And..." Peter cast around for another thing to ask. "Yeah that pretty much covers it."

"Nothing, nothing, it was nothing," assured Remus far too quickly. James narrowed his eyes, Peter frowned, and Sirius uttered a highly dramatic gasp.

When he had all of their confused attentions, he hissed, "You're having a secret affair with her, aren't you?!"

James started, "What-?!"

Peter toppled from his chair in shock.

Remus shook his head, "No, no I swear, James, I'm not having an affair!"

"How come you're apologising to me?"

"Because your jealousy is written all over your face."

"It is not!"

"Yeah it is!"

"It is not, Sirius!"

"No, really it is, see?" Peter snatched a hand mirror from a girl sitting behind him and thrusted it into James' hands. James held it up to his face and gasped.

"What the bloody-"

"Language, James," Remus chastised, bored, from behind his book.

"-did you do to my face!?"

Sirius snickered evilly as Peter returned the mirror to the girl, who was blissfully unaware of the entire exchange. James' fists shook as he hissed, "Fix my face!"

James was completely unamused by the fact that 'Your Jealousy' was scrawled across his forehead in what appeared to be lipstick.

Remus flicked his wand casually, and James felt his forehead. No sticky lipstick or otherwise in the shape of the words 'Your Jealousy'.

James huffed as he buried his nose back in his book about Patronuses, then exclaimed as he found an interesting piece of information.

"It says here that werewolves can't produce a corporeal Patronus in the form of anything other than a wolf. Side effect of the infection. But you can't tell a werewolf just from his or her Patronus; a wolf Patronus symbolises cunning, courage, and victory, but also in some cases cruelty and greed as well. Not to mention protection, direction, leadership, and destruction. That's weird." James perused the other examples, searching for something that struck him as HIM. A few stood out to him; the dog, symbolizing loyalty, the stag, symbolizing proud grace, and bear, the embodiment of courage, strength, and leadership.

He read, also, that some soulmates had male and female counterparts of the same animal. For instance, a swine and a boar, a cow and a bull, a doe and a stag. Also, the female counterparts were often softer versions of whatever the animal as a whole symbolized.

James though he may as well try a Patronus again; he had been trying since that fateful day when he had lit a room with a blob of mist, but he hadn't had very much success since then.

"Expecto Patronum," he whispered. _Happy place, James. _But what was his happy place?_ I don't have one,_ he realized with a jolt. Everywhere was the same level of happiness. He scowled and probed the depths of his mind for a happy memory. Any memory at all. An image of sitting on the park swings with Sirius that summer, watching the girls swing around in the trees like monkeys. They had been judging a contest; who can climb most impressively. Sirius' vote was biased. Hestia sucked. James voted for Evans, because she sort of flew between branches, swinging up to the next limb with ease. Later, she had needed Essence of Dittany because the bark scraped her hands raw. But James was impressed with the way she seemed to belong in the trees.

When he had asked later, she replied that she was 'born this way.' He asked 'what way?' 'Awesome,' was her reply. James scowled and shoved her, causing her to fall into a muggle sprinkler. When she fell, she grabbed his shirt to keep from falling, but they both ended up getting soaked because he had stumbled forward from her momentum.

He smiled as he remembered this.

"Expecto Patronum," he whispered, almost imperceptibly. He was overjoyed when a tiny wisp of silver shot from his wand before dispersing.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Remus asked. "I can make a shape, but it's too blurry to make out." James, Sirius, and Peter whirled about to face him and he pulled out his wand timidly.

"See, watch, Expecto Patronum." A blob whisked out of the wand, and took shape. It was very obviously a large predator. Remus' eyes were wide and glistening in the light as he whispered, "It's never been that clear before."

* * *

James glanced around quickly, clutching a piece of parchment on his hands. He knew that people couldn't see the Marauders, but he had to check nonetheless.

He slowly began to unfold the parchment but stopped quickly. "Sirius, will you stop breathing down my neck?"

"Sorry, mate, but it's a little crowded under here."

"He has a point, I don't think the Cloak is made for four people, even if they are four scrawny twelve year olds."

"Shut up, Remus."

"I am not scrawny!"

James returned to the parchment. He unfolded it with trembling fingers. _At last_.


	9. Dramatic Defense

James was vaguely aware of Remus' chin poking into his pressure point and of Sirius' hair falling into James' face. Peter was on his tiptoes to peek over James' and Sirius' shoulders. James read the first line with mounting excitement.

It read, _To_ _enter Honeydukes cellar, tap the hump of the one-eyed witch and say, 'Dissendium'._

James grinned at the others. They had walked past that very same statue every day to get to class. They had never even given it a second thought, except to poke fun at when they were short of entertainment. Namely when Snivellus was no where to be found. Now they discovered that it had been hiding a secret all these years.

A very sweet secret, too.

_THANK YOU, PEEVES!_

The boys trooped off to the fourth floor corridor that housed the one-eyed witch and Remus did the honors. James was annoyed, since Remus hadn't even asked first, but fumed silently during their long hike through the passageway.

Sirius grunted when his head hit a sort of trap door. He and James pushed it up and clambered into the dusty cellar. It was dim. Sirius and Remus hoisted Peter up while James held the trapdoor open. When it had been quietly lowered, it looked exactly the same as the rest of the dirty floor. They silently filled their rucksacks with candy, bouncing with excitement. James stocked up on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Acid Pops (_For Snivellus_, he thought wickedly as he snatched a bag of them), Sugar Quills, and Pepper Imps. By then, his rucksack was filled to the bursting point and hard to lift. James growled with the effort of swinging it onto his back. Sirius was already done, and Peter was cramming the last few sweets into his rucksack, but Remus was taking his sweet time (no pun intended), choosing one bag of every type of candy and then going back for more when he had done that.

"Reeemuuuus," whined Sirius, "hurry uuuup!"

"Shhh, we'll get caught!"

"Hurry _up_."

"Fine, I'm done." They stole away back into the passage and carefully covered themselves with the Invisibility Cloak, shutting the trap door behind them. They paused to catch their breath, and they heard someone up in the cellar exclaim in shock when they came downstairs to see a large portion of their stored candy gone.

James snickered as they rushed up the passageway and back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Where've you lot been?" James jumped, which hurt because of the weight on his shoulders, and whirled to see Frank Longbottom perched on his bed, scowling.

"Here, mate," Sirius said, tossing Frank a couple of bags of candy. "For your silence."

"Where'd you get these?!" he exclaimed in delight.

"Never mind that, Frank, just rest assured that you will get some of our goods whenever we go marauding," Remus assured, waving his hand as he dragged his trunk from under the bed.

James grinned, "Ask no questions, Frank, and we'll tell you no lies!" With that, he dumped the candy into his trunk, making sure that it was hidden at the bottom. He had hollowed out a few old books that he had found in his parents' rubbish bins that summer, and he put the candies in those to make it seem as though he just had plenty of books. The weight that the candy added made it seem all the more plausible. He had also kept the pages, for when he wasn't using the compartment. Keep it secret.

* * *

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, mate!" exclaimed Sirius cheerily. "Wonder what ol' Stevie's got for us this year?"

"Something cool that he makes seem boring," groaned James. Peter snickered, but Remus merely shrugged.

They stepped into the classroom and froze in shock. Instead of being floor to ceiling bookshelves, the walls were covered in detailed posters of monsters, with fine print lists of their magical properties, how to recognize them, and so on. The desks were positioned as a giant smiley face, which James could appreciate, and from the ceiling hung skeletons and skins.

But the most impressive change of all was the person perched on the teacher's desk. James decided to start from his feet and work up. He had worn, black leather boots, the leather wasn't shiny. Black pants, with a wand holster strapped to his thigh. A white tee shirt under a worn black leather jacket completed the outfit. James had already decided that this was his favorite teacher.

He looked up at the face. A strong jawline, heavily tanned skin, a brown mustache beneath a slightly crooked nose, bright gray eyes, and close-cropped red-brown hair.

James ran for the seat directly in front of the teacher's desk. But hey, there's a first time for everything! He dropped his bag and left his book inside. He merely twirled his wand between his fingers as he bounced his knee. Sirius was gazing at the new professor with respect, Peter was fiddling with his quill. Remus was looking nervous, and glancing around at the posters.

When the classroom filled with chattering people, the professor stood. "Shut up, cause I'm only gain to say this once." The whispers ceased immediately. "Good job. I'm Bilius Prewett. I'm an Auror, I'm twenty one years old, I'm here to teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts. My friends call me Bill. You are to call me Professor or Super-Awesome-Guy-Who-Is-Going-To-Teach-Me-How-To-Save-My-Own-Butt. This is your seating chart for the year, and under no circumstances are we going to move."

James heard a groan next to him. He turned to face Evans, and he pulled a face and slouched in his chair, arms crossed. Professor Prewett began speaking again. "I am going to teach you a lot this year, because, from what I've heard from Dumbledore, John Stevenson could rival Binns in boringness. So, we have to review what you did last year _and_ cover this year's curriculum or else you'll be behind-"

"Professor!" James said, hand shooting up.

"I don't appreciate students speaking out of turn." James pointed to his arm, and a thrill rushed through him when he saw the Professor roll his eyes and the corner of his mouth twitch up. "Fine, then. Proceed."

"What happened to Professor Stevenson? I mean, I didn't like him, cause he was boring, but he can't've just disappeared off the face of the earth-"

"That's exactly what he did, Mr...?"

"James Potter, sir."

"Potter? Your old man taught me in Auror training, didn't he?"

"I dunno, Dad doesn't talk much about work when he's home..."

"Charlus Potter?"

"Yeah, that'd be him."

"Excellent. Well, as I was saying, that is exactly what happened to John. He disappeared off the face of the earth."

A whoosh of air by his ear told him that Evans' hand was up.

"Yes, Ms.-?"

"Evans. And how could he disappear like that? Without anybody knowing? That's not possible, is it?"

"Muggle-born?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then, it is my duty to inform you that it is, in fact, possible for that to happen. Do you know what's outside these walls at this moment, sugar?"

"Voldemort." James had no reaction; he had grown used to her insisting that his name was Voldemort, not You-Know-Who. In fact, he had started using the name himself.

The class was a different story. The cavernous room erupted in the hushed tones of fear and uncertainty. James gauged Professor Prewett's reaction. The man merely raised his eyebrows and waited for the students to quiet down.

"Bold, Ms. Evans."

"Hardly."

"What makes you say that?"

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."

With a jolt, James realized that his father had said exactly the same thing before he had come to Hogwarts. But Evans hadn't been there. How could she have been? At the time, James hadn't really paid attention to the statement and forgot it in fear and confusion. Now, it came rushing back to him with the force of a stunning spell.

"Twenty points to Gryffindor, Ms. Evans. Now. As I was saying, this year we are under no circumstances to, how does it go...? Ah, yes, under no circumstances are we to go _by the book_." James straightened up, while Evans slumped in her seat and groaned. "This year's material will be learned through practical purposes only. You will only need your books on the off-chance that I assign an essay for homework. Most of the time your homework will be to practice spells on small practice dummies that I will provide." James saw Evans straighten up in his peripheral vision.

She had been in his peripheral vision a lot lately, Lily Evans had. James had begun to suspect that she was trying to stay there.

"Now, then, this term we will be studying things such as poisons. Next term will be magical creatures-" James saw Remus stiffen when this was said "-and the last two terms will be dedicated completely to magical defense between wizards. With luck, we may even get a head start on next year's material, which will make my job a whole lot easier, so. Let's get cracking then!"

James was paired with Evans (unfortunate, really, James had been hoping to be paired with someone he could beat easily, but they were apparently to be partnered with whoever was sitting next to them) and was asked to show what he knew.

James and Evans were soon the last pair standing. James was flinging any hex he could think of, ducking her' sat the same time. Evans gracefully wove in and out between spells, her wand a blur, uttering spells fast enough so that James couldn't even make them out any more.

James was suddenly overcome by the memory of a spell he had learned over the summer. That was all he had really done after Sirius had left; pored over his parents' books of jinxes. "Mimble wimble!" he muttered, swishing his wand in a sort of pretzel shape. Evans' hand flew to her mouth, and James knew that her tongue had curled up on itself. Tongue-Tying Curse.

"I win!" teased James, flipping his wand into the air before catching it swiftly and sitting back down. Evans threw herself into her assigned seat and tugged a piece of parchment from her bag.

James read it. _REVERSE THE SPELL._

"Sorry, love, can't do that."

_WHY? Scared I'll whip your arse?_

"Oh, got a dirty tongue, now do we, love? No, I don't know the counter curse."

Evans froze. WHAT.

"You heard me, darlin'. I don't know the counter curse."

_WHY IN THE NAME OF MERLINS PANTS WOULD YOU LEARN A SPELL WITHOUT BOTHERING TO LEARN THE COUNTER CURSE?!_

James glanced at it. "Couldn't be bothered. But I can't help but notice that you didn't scream your, well, your ink off at me for calling you pet names."

_I would, but my hand hurts_.

"Out of practice, are we?"

_SHUT YOUR FACE._

"I'd rather not," James replied, smiling charmingly. She glared, and he added, "You know, that would be a lot more daunting if you were uglier. If you were, oh, I dunno, Snivellus?"

_Don't you say a word against Sev._

"I will when he stops being..."

_Being what?_

"Well, I was going to say ALIVE, but that wouldn't get me anywhere but six feet under, so let's go with slimy, eh?"

_I hate you, Potter_.

"But that's the problem, love. You hate me... Because you love me."

_I DO NOT_.

"Denial."

_I will never love you._

"Well why ever not?"

_Because you're ugly. _

James gasped in shock. Sirius peered over his shoulder and clucked at the words. "That was low, Princess."

_Fine. Because you're annoying._

"So you don't think I'm ugly?" asked James hopefully.

_No, just an incorrigible Eskimo pie with a caramel ribbon_

"That was original. Spend all summer thinking of that?" James mocked.

_Just for you!_

"You spend all summer thinking of me?"

_Whatever_.

"I am going to think of a pet name for you."

_WHAT?! BUT WHATS WRONG WITH PRINCESS TIGERLILY?!_

"That's for Sirius. Now let's see..." James stroked his chin slowly. "By George, I think I've got it!"

_Well? DONT LEAVE ME IN SUSPENSE, PLEASE!_

"Lovelily. Like, lovely, and Lily, combined!" James straightened up proudly. HA. TAKE THAT, WORLD.

_GENIUS!_

"Wait, really?"

_Yeah, your going to be the next Einstein you are!_

James grinned, even though he had no idea who Einstein was, and turned to Professor Prewett.

"Erm, Professor? I was wondering if you could maybe reverse the jinx..." The man nodded and pointed his wand at Evans silently. She gasped and cleared her throat.

"Finally. You. You are not. Going. To. Get. Away. With. That."

James beamed. "Never once doubted it, Lovelily!"

"Don't call me that."

"Bu-but you said it was genius!" spluttered James confusedly.

Evans rolled her eyes. "Ever heard of a thing called SARCASM?"

"Yeah, why- ohhh."

"Mhm."

* * *

"Remus, I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Why not? The man's an expert, it can't hurt to ask."

"Technically, since he is a professor, it can hurt."

"Oh, so Sirius Black is scared of getting caught after hours now, is he?"

"No, I just don't want to go throwing myself in Flich's way! He keeps the chains oiled, you know!"

The four boys were standing in a dim, empty corridor, staring at the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The Invisibility Cloak covered them.

"I'm sick of this. Let's just open the door, okay?" James stepped forward, causing the other boys to shuffle behind him so as to remain covered by the cloak, and forcibly tugged the handle down.

The only light in the classroom was courtesy of the nearly-full moon. The silvery light made shadows dance across the walls and the pictures on the posters seemed to move. Not like Wizarding photos usually did, but seemed to leap out of the parchment and at you only to shrink back inside. Remus was very keen on looking at the floor.

The teacher's quarters was in the back of the classroom, the entryway atop a large staircase. The boys cautiously climbed, listening for Filch.

James, Remus, and Sirius began a whispered argument as to who got to knock. Peter merely rolled his eyes and rapped his knuckles against the door smartly.

James stared at him, thinking, _What just happened?_ when the door was flung open to reveal a disheveled Professor Bilius Prewett wearing only pyjama pants.

"Whaddya want?" he whined. "What...?"

James quickly realized that they were still under the cloak. He swept it off and stowed it in his sweatshirt.

"A... An Invisibility Cloak...? Never mind, come in, what is it?"

Remus cleared his throat. "Er, I'm Remus-"

"Remus Lupin, yes I know."

Remus, looking extremely disconcerted, rambled on, "Well, since you're, you know, our Defense teacher, and... And you seem, well better than Professor Stevenson, and we think you won't sell us out and-"

"Just get on with it!" snapped Professor Prewett.

"WewantyoutoteachushowtopreformthePatronusCharminthecorporealform," Remus muttered.

"... What?"

James smirked. _Not a morning person, are we?_ "Er want you to teach us to produce a corporeal Patronus."

Professor Prewett's mouth dropped. The four boys raised their eyebrows and waited for him to gather his thoughts. "You... You realize this is... This is N.E.W.T. level material, yes?"

"No, actually, thanks for that tidbit of information. But we... We've had a bit of progress, actually..." Sirius provided, pulling out his wand. He screwed out his eyes, then his face visibly relaxed and he murmured, "Expecto Patronum." James spectated as a silver cloud whisked from the wand tip. He had never seen Sirius even attempt a Patronus before; he was in awe of the cloud, albeit annoyed because both Sirius and Remus were better at it than he was.

Professor Prewett nodded, stroking his mustache gently. "Alright, I'll teach you. But knowing how to produce a Patronus is very different from actually USING one."

"What d'you mean?" Peter asked. "What's it for?"

Normally, James would've teased Peter for asking a stupid question like that, but right now, it wasn't a stupid question; James didn't know the answer either.

"A Patronus has two purposes, and neither are beauty. That is just a pleasurable side effect. The first purpose is to send messages; with the correct process, you can send a corporeal Patronus to carry a message to a recipient. The other purpose is partial to both forms of a Patronus. The more practical use of the charm is to ward off Dementors."

James felt his blood turn to ice. He had heard of Dementors, and he knew that they were the guards for Askaban. Whenever he asked his parents about them, though, they either fell deathly silent or quickly changed the subject.

"What's a Dementor, sir? I mean, I know that they guard Askaban, but... My parents would never tell me, and seeing as I'm going to learn how to fight them and all, I think it would be... Appropriate, is the right word, I guess, to learn exactly what it is that I'm fighting." Sirius, Remus, and Peter all stared at James.

"Really?" Remus asked.

"It's probably best that you stay that way, mate..."

Peter chipped in, "My parents used to tell me about Dementors to scare me into being law abiding. They were incredibly descriptive, too..."

"My father did the same," Remus whispered. "I still lose sleep over it."

Sirius merely nodded vigorously.

"I still want to know!" James snapped.

Seemingly unfazed by James' outburst, Professor Prewett steered James out of the office and into the classroom. The other three Marauders trailed behind, whispering things like, "James, save yourself!" and "Professor Prewett, don't!"

James was parked in front of a poster that was in a very dark corner, where the silver didn't reach, where only two posters wee on the walls. One was of a werewolf, chasing down its prey. The other featured a large, dark figure, wearing a gigantic, billowing cloak, with the hood covering the head. All that James could see of its actual body were its spider-like, scaly hands. Hands that looked like they were rotting.

James shuddered, thinking, _Blimey, wouldn't want to meet a bloke looking like that_.

James' eyes drifted down to the name, at the very bottom of the poster. _DEMENTORS_.

"Oh," squeaked James. After seeing the picture, James was too frightened to read the lists. Not now, not when the only light was that of a half-moon trailing across the sky, not when the only sounds were the quiet breathing of his companions and the muffled hoots from the Owlery and the wind ripping through the trees and the blood pounding in his ears.

_This belongs in a horror story, _James thought cynically. _Perfect setting, perfect heroes, and the perfect monster._

"Well, if this is what a Dementor is, then I want to defend myself. I want to be able to protect my friends and my family and myself from this."

Professor Prewett only nodded and told them to meet him on Saturdays at three o clock. Unless there was Quidditch.

"Merlin!" James hissed. "I can't believe I forgot about Quidditch tryouts! They're on Saturday, at nine!"

James was incredibly jumpy. How could he had forgotten? It was nearly the next day, Friday.

* * *

"Oh, Reemie-pie," fake-sobbed Sirius, "would you look at that! Our little Jamesie-poo all grown up and off to Quidditch tryouts!" Sirius 'broke down' while Remus rubbed his back soothingly.

"You got this, son. Show them what a Marauder is made of!" Remus encouraged playfully. James glared at them.

Peter piped up, "What _is_ a Marauder made of?"

Remus answered, "Arrogance, charm, stubbornness, nerve, flesh, bone, and stomach."

"Heeeeeeey..."

"I take offense to that."

Sirius' reaction was much more dramatic. "How _dare_ you? That is the last straw, mister. We. Are. _Through_," he shouted exaggeratedly before stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Remus, still playing along, sprang after him, yelling, "Sirius, darling, wait! You know I would never!" James snickered at their antics before remembering why they were acting this way. He immediately sobered up as he and Pete followed them to the Great Hall.

James found the pair play-arguing in the Entrance Hall.

Sirius screamed, "I can't believe you would do that!"

"It was nothing, Siri-sweetums!" Remus replied, matching his tone.

"You _LEFT_ me!"

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"You _LEFT_ me for a _GIRL_!" James grinned at the crowd of spectators; they had absolutely no idea that the two Marauders were joking. They thought that it was real. James had to hand it to Sirius and Remus- they were incredible actors.

James flung himself into the fray. "No, Sirius, it's not true! You know Remus would never, ever, _EVER_ leave you for someone like _her_!"

"But he did! He left me, Jamesie-poo, my boy, he left me for a pretty little red-head!"

James threw himself between them as Sirius lunged for Remus. "She may be pretty, but she is most certainly not his type!"

"Well then whose type is she?"

"Yeah, Jamesie-poo, whose type?"

James placed a hand over his heart and stared off into the distance. "She is mine," he whispered loudly.

Both of the boys fell to their knees. "_NOOOOOO_! Don't leave us, Jamesie-poo!" Sirius wailed.

Remus clutched at his knees. "How could you do this to us?!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius mother and Remus father, but I must!" James bounded away and pulled a girl from the crowd. "Evans! Elope with me, and we won't have to deal with our differences any longer! My parents are deranged, they wouldn't be able to see true love if it hit them on their noses! Come with me, so that we may no longer be bound apart by the people I call my parents!"

Evans stared at him, and James thought, _She's going to say yes_. "No," she snapped, pulling her hand away.

James froze, then collapsed to his knees. "Evans me darling, I have risked everything for you!" He recaptured her hand in both of his. "I have rescued you from the clutches of the slimy snake Snivellus and I have given you the gift of entertainment! What more could you ask for? What more could I give? We are meant to be, my fairest maiden, we must escape now from the ropes that bind me!"

Evans gasped. "Whose ropes bound you, my knight in rusting armor?"

"Those of Lord and Lady Pranksalot!"

"Oh, my knight in rusting armor, we must leave immediately!" James leaped to his feet and took her hand when a voice called out, "Lily!"

Evans' head whipped around and James peeked over her shoulder to see Snivellus fighting his way through the crowd.

Evans' hand once again left his as it flew to her face. "Oh, finally, my knight in shining armor!" She sprinted to him, leaving James rather confused.

_What just happened? She just left you for Snivellus, that's what just happened. No! I will never let that happen! Never!_

"I, Sir James Charlus Potter of Gryffindor House challenge you, Sir Snivellus Snape of Slytherin Sewers, to a duel!"


	10. Of Quidditch, Mist, and Muggle Studies

Snivellus straightened up, declaring, "I accept your challenge! Who's your second?"

James promptly spun. "Mother dearest, would you be so kind as to be my second in a duel to win over a fair maiden's heart with my manly skills?"

Sirius clambered to his feet. "It would be my pleasure."

"Well, then," James clapped his hands, "who shall have the displeasure of being your second?"

Snivellus turned. "Avery? Would you do me the honor?"

"Gladly." Snivellus grinned as a bulky, tall, black-haired boy with glittering, malice-filled gray eyes emerged to stand beside him. James narrowed his eyes. Merlin. Having Braxton Avery as second in the type of duel he was planning would be an asset. To Snivellus.

"Alright then. Today, six o'clock in the Muggle Studies classroom on the fifth floor."

"Don't be late."

As Snivellus walked away, James replied, "Wouldn't dream of it." The Marauders pushed through the masses proudly and sat at the breakfast table.

James let out a small gasp as the events of the day were remembered. He had Quidditch tryouts in... Half an hour, it looked like. He had no appetite whatsoever and was content with merely staring at his golden plate and maybe taking a sip of water or two.

Sirius and Remus had very different plans.

"Eat."

"No, Mother dearest."

"You should."

"I'd rather not, Father-Of-Mine."

"Eat _now_."

"That's still a no, Mummy!"

"How're you going to show them who's the best if you're half-starved?"

"With my amazing skills and charm, of course, Pops."

"Maybe you should eat a bit, just to get them to shut up," whispered Peter.

James shrugged and stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth. "Happy?"

"Not in the slightest. Don't eat with your mouth full."

"Hypocrite."

"Don't you call your mother a hypocrite, young man."

"Yes, Father."

James stood, causing the bench to scrape back and several people to wince and/or watch apprehensively.

"Good luck," were the whispers from the Gryffindors. Silence greeted him from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Jeers carried across the hall from the Slytherins:

"Break a leg, Potter! Literally!"

"What are the chances that you'll fall off and break your neck?"

"Why, Potter, care to bet how long you stay on that broom?"

"How high do you think he'll go? My bet is two feet, if it can get off the ground at all, his head is so big."

Most of them he could've shrugged off with the thought, _They're just jealous of my awesomeness. _But the last one struck too close to home. It brought him back to sitting against the wall of the bathroom last year, wondering where he had gone wrong, listening to Evans' sobbed insults, muffled by the stones and the paint.

But he had no intentions whatsoever of letting them have the pleasure of knowing that they had gotten to him, so he left the Great Hall with his head high and his feet sure.

The sureness left as he arrived on the Quidditch pitch. _What if I fail horribly? _He blinked. _I can't fail, horribly or epicly. I AM JAMES CHARLUS POTTER THE ONE AND THE ONLY AND I WILL NOT FAIL. I WILL GET ON THE QUIDDITCH TEAM AND I WILL WIN A MILLION GAMES AGAINST SLYTHERIN, AND I WILL RUB IT IN THEIR UGLY FACES EVERY SINGLE BLOODY TIME._

Renewed, he shouldered his broom and strutted out to join the other hopefuls lined up.

He didn't let himself be daunted by the fact that most were older, stronger, and taller than he was. He was perfect for what he really wanted, Seeker, but until he could get that he would gladly play Chaser.

The Captain, a big sixth-year Scottish boy named Robert Wood, paced in front of them, sizing them up.

"Alright. I am going to tell you exactly how I run this team and exactly how I expect you to behave. If you don't like the way I run things, you leave. I am the Captain, I run this ship. You do not. I do." James regarded him quietly, his desperation to join the team that deep.

Robert took a large breath, like that of a man who was about to repeat something he had said a million times over. "As you all know, I am Robert Wood. I play Beater, and currently have no partner in crime. The two Chasers are Delilah Woods, that's with an S people, and Timmy Johnson. They need a third Chaser. We don't have a Keeper right now. Seeker is Gregory Cotton over there. He's graduating this year, so we want to make this year a good one, for him. Now for the training schedule. We train five days a week, and on the weekends before a match. I booked the field for every day we'll need it already, so there's no chance of it being stolen by slimy little Slytherin gits who are trying to beat us. I even had Dumbledore look over the schedule and approve it, and he put a charm on it so that no one can try to take the field on a day we're using it. If you make the team, we practice Monday through Friday starting at seven and going till nine. Weekends before the match, we go from nine to twelve, then come back for an extra hour at eight. That's Saturday _and_ Sunday, mind you. You are to come down to the field at seven fifty to change and so that we can discuss what we're doing. Once you're on the team, you are _not allowed to resign, no matter what happens. I absolutely DO NOT have the patience for one tryout every year, much less two_. Is that understood?" He barely paused before continuing. "During matches, you are to work _as a team._ No one gets all of the glory or all of the blame. Chasers are to pass the ball, always, and Beaters are not to aim for their own team. The Keeper must be committed to guarding the goals. _No slacking off._ Now. Is there anyone who wishes to leave?"

About a fourth of the people trying out slouched off the field.

James muttered, "Sissies," under his breath.

Robert looked at him sharply. "You."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. You're that kid who was messing around in the Entrance Hall this morning, aren't you?"

"Yeeeesss?"

"Name, year, position, quick description of yourself."

"Physically or mentally?"

"Both."

"Uh, hi. I'm James Potter, I'm in second year, I want to be Chaser, and would describe myself as devilishly handsome, clever, hilarious, and an all-around awesome guy. Is that good enough for you?"

Robert almost smiled. Almost. Then he continued the interrogation with the others. He consulted with the other team mates, then sent the ones that didn't get on with the team. James was thankful that he wasn't one of them.

"Alright! Right now, we've got four candidates for Beater, five for Chaser, and three for Keeper. Does anyone know what we do now?"

James jumped up and down, just like he had last year during the first flying lesson, when he had done it purely to annoy Evans. But this time, Evans wasn't around to annoy, but he wanted to make himself known.

Even though he already was.

"Yeah, kid?"

James spewed out in one long breath, "Weflyaroundtoseewhocantandthenweseewhoisbestforeachposition!"

Robert, looking slightly confused, hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, kid, that's exactly what we do."

"Right. Now, mount your brooms and kick off. Fly five times around the field before touching back down neatly and without falling right here. Last to touch down for each position is out. Last two for Chaser. There are too many of you. Now, three, two-" A sharp whistle sliced the cold October air and James grinned. His foot slammed into the damp grass and he ripped through the fog, smiling into the wind like a madman.

Even though he was the second to leave the ground, he was quickly gaining on the lead. Soon they were neck and neck. James slowly pulled ahead, at the very end of their fifth lap, and James touched down first by nearly five seconds.

There was no way he was leaving now. He was born for this. Chosen. In his head, a name formed. A name known only to him. The Chosen One. It made sense; he had been _chosen_ by the team as likable, he had been _chosen_ by some mysterious force to win the laps, and he knew that he would again be _chosen_ for the vacant spot as Chaser. He was the Chosen One for now, at least in his head.

"Alright. You. You. And you. Leave." Robert pointed at the three who didn't make it in time, before considering the two Chaser candidates who had tied. "Hmmmmm..." He tapped his chin. "I got it! Whoever can run the most laps across the field before wimping out can stay."

The two candidates, the girl and the boy that James had beaten, groaned before doing as they were told.

The girl won. James smirked as the boy, who was in fourth year, stormed off the field. His eyebrows shot up a the boy, named Scott McLaggen, threw his broomstick at the stands.

_If I ever have kids, which is highly doubtful, I would hate for them to meet his son_.

James dutifully returned his attention to Robert. He was one of the first. Even Robert was still staring after Scott, scowling.

"So happy he's gone. Anyhow, let's get to work, eh? Chaser candidates, stand with Delilah and Timmy. Beaters, come with me. Keepers... Hey, Greg, you know how to explain Keeper?... Okay, yeah, you guys go to Delilah and Timmy. Chasers and Keepers get to use those hoops over there. Beaters, come with me."

James glanced after them as Robert led the Beater hopefuls away. He whirled around as Delilah began to speak.

"Hi, I'm Delilah, and this is Timmy. We want to see who would work the best as our fellow Chaser and our Keeper. Greg over yonder is going to judge with his beady little hawk eyes-"

"I HEARD THAT."

"- while the first Keeper attempts to guard the hoops while you three score. Then we switch and Greg tells us what he thinks. We apply his opinion to our own and make a final decision. Understood? Timmy, anything you want to add?"

"Yeah, actually, there is." Timmy fixed them all to the ground with a hard stare. "If you fool around during tryouts, you are out. O-U-T out. No 'but I wasn't messing around' or 'but my parents want me on the team' or 'I can pay you' or any of that junk. Our team is skilled. We don't let rich people on the team cause they're rich. No. That is the slimy little snakes' thing. We let rich people on the team because they're good, just like we let middle class kids on the team cause they're good, and just like we let poor kids on the team cause they're good. You could be filthy stinkin' rich or dirt poor for all I care. What matters is you know how to _play the game_. Savvy?"

James saluted, his spine ruler straight. Timmy motioned for them to mount their brooms, except for the other Keeper applicant, and they lifted into the air. Delilah demonstrated how to shoot, as did Timmy, and then James watched the girl, Ruby Johannasen, shoot three times. She was strong, lithe, and good at shooting. _BUT NOT GOOD ENOOOOUUUGH!_ The third year girl then threw the Quaffle to the other boy, a fourth year named Jason Wiles. Jason missed the hoop completely on his first shot, bounced it off the rim for his second, and was blocked for the third. James had high hopes as the Quaffle was passed to him,

James flew towards the hoop, fast, and chucked it in. The Keeper just barely missed the Quaffle, and it went through. James smirked as it was sent back to him, and he threw it into the air and batted it into the hoop with the end of his broomstick. It soared through the Keepers outstretched hands and into the right hoop. The third time, he threw it into the left hoop easily while the Keeper was still flying there from the right hoop.

James grinned as he flew back to the end of the line as the Keepers switched.

This Keeper was considerably better; two of Ruby's were blocked, all of Jason's were blocked, and one of James', as well as Delilah's. James was pretty certain who was making the team.

Delilah and Timmy flew off to consult Greg, and, when they returned, they were grinning. "The Keeper for Gryffindor will be Jenna Denazen," Delilah announced as the second Keeper proudly flew to float beside them. The other Keeper, a third year boy, sadly flew down to the ground and left, his shoulders hunched and his head hanging.

"And," Timmy followed, "the next Gryffindor Chaser will be..." James scowled when he dragged out the 'be'. "JAMES POTTER!" James grinned and shook hands with Ruby and Jason. Ruby congratulated him, while Jason scowled and said nothing. He then joined Jenna and they all flew to join Greg in watching the Beaters.

Robert was looking between the two skeptically. "Alright. This is going to be a hard test, but I think you can manage it." James narrowed his eyes in anticipation. Robert raised his fist, and, after a second of hesitation, the girl he was facing did as well.

Simultaneously, they pounded their fists against their palms, screaming, "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" In their two-outta-three game, the girl won. The other Beater candidate lost against Robert, so the girl stayed. Her name was Katrina Tempest.

James skipped to the Tower with the others, brimming with happiness.

Robert burst into the common room. "GRYFFINDORS!" he roared. James noticed his lion-like voice, and cracked a grin. "I would like to present Gryffindors newest players. For Keeper, we have fourth year Jenna Denazen!" Cheers. "For my fellow Beater, we have third year Katrina Tempest!" Cheers. "And, for Chaser, we have James Potter, a second year!" Roars. James grin widened until his face felt ready to fall off. Which would've been sad; he quite liked his face. So did a lot of people.

_Does Evans like my face?_ James mental shook himself. Why should he care if Evans liked his face? _Because everyone likes my face._ He caught a glimpse of dark red and a flash of emerald before his view was enveloped by black.

"Jamesie-poo! Oh, my dear boy, you've done it!" James grinned into Sirius' hair. Remus came up behind them.

"Well done, son. You've made your old man proud."

Peter squealed, "You did it! You did it!"

James jumped up and down repeatedly. "Ididitididitididit!"

"Well. You go wash up, young man, before we head off."

"Yes ma'am!" James flew up the stairs, which he found pleasantly ironic seeing as he was no longer on a broomstick, but he was so happy he might as well have been floating. James showered quickly and changed into clean clothes before running out of the classroom with the boys.

"What're you four doing?" a voice demanded, slightly out of breath.

"Evans, darling! Come to tell me that you want me no matter the outcome of the duel?"

"Never. Just wondering what you're all doing, running off when people are trying to congratulate you. Seems rather unlike you, running away from attention," replied Evans, stopping and crossing her arms.

"Erm, nothing?" Remus answered.

Evans smirked. "Well, if it really is nothing, well then you won't mind me coming with you."

"We're just... Going to the bathroom!" assured Sirius.

Evans raised her eyebrows. "The bathroom. When there is one not only in the common room, but also one in your dormitory?"

Peter hesitantly told her, "We like the one over that way better."

"Really."

"Yup!"

"I don't believe you."

"Sucks to suck!" James interjected cheerily before tugging the boys away to the Defense Against the Dark arts classroom. When he glanced back, Evans shook her head and walked away. James grinned and let go of them, and they all ran to the office.

"Professor Prewett!" Sirius called. The middle aged man turned and his face split into a wide smile.

"Hi. Congrats, Mr. Potter, on making Chaser."

"Thanks," James replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"Now. Let's see. As your teacher, it is my job to criticize you so..." He paused, stroking his mustache, examining them. "Mr. Potter, your hair is too messy and you're much to thin. Mr. Black, you need to cut your hair. It's entirely too long. Mr. Lupin, you're looking peaky. Mr. Pettigrew, stop staring with a blank look, it's unbecoming." The boys grinned and James ran his hand through his hair, just to tease his professor. The man grinned and pulled out his wand.

"Alright. Since you seem to be having trouble picturing a happy memory off the top of your head, I had Professor Slughorn's brew a potion that targets that happiest memory and brings it to the front of your mind."

"He did that?" Remus asked incredulously.

Professor Prewett hesitated. "Okay, so maybe I nicked it, so what? It won't be missed."

"Are you sure?" Sirius prompted.

"I took the liberty of leaving a note in its place saying COURTESY OF THE MARAUDERS just in case he was looking."

James scowled. "Heeeey..."

"Anyways, you each take a small sip. It's very potent. Here, let's start with you, Mr. Lupin..."

The flask, filled with a pearly blue liquid was passed around, reaching James last. He raised it to his lips and took a tentative sip before handing it back. After a second, the strangest thing happened. All of the sudden, he could taste _smells_.

He could smell aftershave, smoke, moss, rain, a slightly furry scent, leaves, vanilla and roses. But he tasted the smells. It was strange. Just as he sorted out the separate scent/tastes, he began to hear laughter. A deep, throaty bark, a hearty guffaw, a high-pitched chuckle, and bell-like laughter that he couldn't place. And suddenly, people entered his mind.

Sirius led the pack, with Remus and Peter in tow, then Evans and Hestia paraded in behind them side by side, and his parents entered last, their arms linked and smiling.

He didn't have a happy memory.

He had people.

Though he wasn't quite sure why Evans invaded his happy people crowd.

James took a deep breath as the classroom came back into view as his mind faded back into his head. "Wow," he breathed, his hazel eyes wide.

His joy and amazement was reflected in the others' faces as Sirius murmured, "That was... Amazing."

Professor Prewett grinned. "Ready to try?"

"Can you show us?"

"Course. Expecto Patronum!" A silver-white mountain lion burst from the tip of his wand, trailing liquid light behind it as it bounded to the desk, sat and yowled silently before dispersing.

"Cool!" James exclaimed. Sirius applauded, Peter cheered. Remus remained silent, staring at the spot where the cougar vanished with an expression that James couldn't quite place. Awe? Excitement? Maybe even a little fear?

"Well then. Now that you know how, Mr. Potter, you try."

James nodded, lifting his wand. He renewed the vision of his happy people crowd plus Evans and screwed his eyes shut. When he opened them, he whispered, "Expecto Patronum." James' eyes widened to reflect the light of the huge silvery _thing_ that exploded from his wand tip. He couldn't tell what it was, but it was clearer than ever before. It vanished quickly. Peter went next. His Patronus was smaller, blurrier. Sirius raised his wand confidently and yelled the words. A blur ran around the room, through their legs and the desks, before disappearing. It was too fast for them to see.

Remus gulped before murmuring the incantation. James gasped as a corporeal Patronus took shape. A silvery canine prowled about the room. It was a small wolf pup, only reaching their mid-shins. It playfully stalked them and pounced on Remus' back, disappearing as it made contact.

"Remus, that was awesome!" Peter cheered. James applauded, as did Sirius, but James stopped short when he saw Remus' face. It was absolutely horrified.

Remus slowly turned to look at Professor Prewett, who only studied him. Then he said, "Wolf Patronuses are like two sides of the same coin. An adult wolf symbolises cruelty, destruction, cunning, death, and greed. But a wolf pup symbolises rebirth, courage, victory, loyalty, success, perseverance, stability and thought. Well done, Mr. Lupin."

Remus meekly nodded and swallowed before glancing at the three boys, lingering on James, and they left after thanking Professor Prewett.

While James waited for six o'clock to roll around, he practiced his Patronus, as did Peter and Sirius. Remus refused to, no matter how much they encouraged him.

"Why not?" James whined.

"Because I'm one of the lucky ones." James shrugged and raised his wand.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't produce anything more than the gigantic blob. Sirius' was becoming clearer every time, and Peter's was still the same. James was incredibly frustrated. _Why can't I make a Patronus?_

When he brought up this question with the other Marauders, each had a different response.

Remus: "Maybe you aren't recalling the memory hard enough."

Sirius: "Maybe it's cause you can't show off for Evans when she's not here." This merited a shove into the lake.

Peter: "Maybe it just takes a bit of time."

James plopped down on the grass at five thirty to rest up before his duel. Remus glanced up from his book, but returned to it quickly. Sirius scooted over to him. Peter kept practicing the wand movement for the Patronus Charm.

"So," Sirius began. "What are your guys' happy memories?"

Remus closed his book carefully. "When I came to Hogwarts and met you guys."

Peter shoved his wand into his robe pocket and leaned forward. "The time when we got into Honeydukes."

Sirius leaned up on his forearms. "Meeting you guys then getting Sorted into Gryffindor. Totally worth the Howler."

"Well, James?" Remus prompted. "Your turn."

"Yeah, caring is sharing!" Sirius added.

"I think it's sharing is caring, Sirius," Peter corrected.

"Even better! Anywho, _Jamsie-poo_ what's your happy memory?!"

James looked at them all. "I don't have one."

"Well no wonder you're having trouble producing a Patronus!" exclaimed Remus.

"Wait, you didn't let me finish!" James stated. "I don't have a happy memory, but I have a happy people crowd."

"A whaaaaaaat?" Sirius asked, sitting up.

"A happy people crowd. People that make me happy."

Peter nodded. "So who's in this happy people crowd?"

"Well, you three, obviously, and my parents," James hesitated before continuing, "and Hestia."

Sirius gasped and pointed at James dramatically, scooting away. "We were wrong, Reemie-pie dearest! Jamesie-poo likes _Hestia_!"

Remus scowled playfully. "Siri-sweetums, why should you care? It's still a _girl_."

Sirius sighed and hung his head. "Because Hestia is mine, Reemie-pie."

Remus gasped, "You _lied_ to me! All this time, accusing _me_ of leaving _you_ for a girl, when you were doing the same thing yourself! Was all of this a ruse, to hide your shame?!"

"No, Remus darling dearest, I still love you! But you are not Hestia!"

Peter was watching like it was a duel, and a small crowd of spectators was doing so as well. James interrupted, "Can you stop talking about Hestia like that?"

"Why cause you like her, not Evans?"

"Noooooo, she's my god sister, that'd be weird."

"Ok, so you still like Evans!" Sirius crowed triumphantly.

"What?" But the attention was focused on the others.

"_GUYS it's almost six o'clock!_!" James screamed. They froze, then darted through the crowd and through the castle before diving into the Muggle Studies classroom on the fourth floor. Snivellus wasn't there yet. Neither was Evans.

"Remus, Peter, you escort Evans here. Sirius, we must wait in swivel chairs."

Sirius cheered. "And when Snivellus arrives, we have to turn to face him ominously slowly while stroking something fluffy. Then we have to say, 'Snivellus, we meet again' while keeping a straight face!"

James nodded. "Exactly. Here," James pulled his robes off over his head and bundled them in his lap as he sat down in a swivel chair. Sirius followed suit.

"Where's Lily?" a snide voice demanded.

"Snivellus. We meet again," the boys chorused, spinning slowly in their chairs while stroking their bunched-up robes.

"Where's Lily?" he repeated, showing no sign that their nickname bothered him.

James rose to his feet. "Remus and Peter are escorting her. She is in safe hands. Remus and Peter are the gentlemanly Marauders."

"Do we start now?"

"No, Snivellus, we must wait until Miss Evans can be the judge. Remus will be the third party."

"That hardly seems fair."

"He didn't want to be here at all. Doesn't like duels. He's not rooting for anyone."

"Why wouldn't he support you?"

"Because he blames me for making him be here at all."

"Oh," Snivellus replied, pulling out his wand.

James laughed. "You won't be needing that, Snivellus." Three pairs of eyes stared at him incredulously.

Remus and Peter arrived, with Evans between them. "Remus, will you collect the wands?" Remus didn't ask, only shot him a quizzical glance and did as he asked.

"Why won't I be needing my wand?" Snivellus demanded nervously. "I thought this was a duel?" Remus plucked the wand from his hand and moved away to stand beside Evans.

"Yes, it is," James acknowledged, turning away. "Tell me, Snivellus," he continued conversationally. "Do you know how to sword fight?" James pulled two swords from the wall.

Snivellus' eyes widened, but he nodded curtly. James suspected that he was lying, but he let it fly as he tossed a sword to him. "Lupin. Do you know the spell that will make it so that the blade can't cut us?"

"Certainly." Remus preformed the spell on both swords and returned to his post beside Evans.

"For you, Evans my darling!" James called. He blew her a kiss and walked to the opposite side of the room, to prepare

Remus announced, "On our right, we have challenger Sir James Charlus Potter of Gryffindor House. Aaaaand, on our left we have the challengeè Sir Snivellus Snape of Slytherin Sewers. They battle for the lovely hand of Miss Lily Evans, fair maiden of Gryffindor." James walked forward with an easy gait, very different from Snivellus' stiff pace. James held his sword at the ready. He could remember sitting on the train the year before, meeting Snivellus and Evans for the first time.

He had told Snivellus that Slytherin sucked, then brandished an imaginary Sword of Gryffindor at him. James was confident in his sword fighting skills.

They crossed swords. "And they're off!" Remus announced, sounding like a Quidditch announcer. "Sir Snivellus' sword flies like the wind, going for a nice low cut to the shins, but Sir James blocks it! Their swords are flashing quickly, but Sir James has the upper hand. Never make the first move in a sword fight, Sir Snivellus! Oh, would you look at that, Sir Snivellus stepped on Sir James' foot..." The commentary went on for another half hour. James was sweating, wondering when Snivellus would throw the sword at his feet and quit. The sword was getting heavier in his hands, so he made a desperate move. A move that his father taught him to only use when he intended to end the duel.

At the end, James had Snivellus at sword point, the invisible barrier poking into his neck slightly.

"Drop the sword," he muttered. Snivellus narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Drop it, now. I've already won, do you want to make a fool of yourself? You had a good run. Now accept defeat like a man and drop. The. Sword."

Snivellus hissed like the snake James knew he was and tossed the sword aside. Remus concluded with, "Sir James wins! Sir Snivellus gave him a run for his money, that's for sure, no one saw that coming, but Sir James won by a sliver."

James grinned and moved forward to collect his prize. "Miss Evans, dearest," he said, bowing and kissing her hand. She quirks an eyebrow. "Would you like to accompany me to dinner?"

"Dinner ended."

"It did?"

"Yeah, like three minutes ago-" her answer was cut off when she screamed. James felt something hard, very hard, and heavy, hit the back of his head, and angry shouts rang in his ears, as all went black.


	11. Revenge Comes With a Side of Barbaloot

"Uuuugghhh... Where am I?" asked James groggily. The world was a blur, and he had no idea where his glasses were. Four blobs stared down at him. One was black, one was brown, one was blond, and one was red. The red blob was nearly impossible to see, because it was only a shade darker than the ceiling. Wait. The ceiling was red?

James attempted to sit up. Tiny hands pushed him back down, while larger hands held him there and even larger hands shoved glasses onto his face.

James blinked as the world sharpened into view. He was sitting in his dorm. It was grey outside the window across from his bed. Surrounding him were Sirius, Remus, and Peter. None of them had tiny hands though.

"Why am I here? What happened?"

"You've got a concussion, mate. What's the last thing you remember?"

James concentrated, even though it hurt. "Uh... I won the duel... And then I went to Evans... And that's it."

"Avery got mad. Whacked you over the head with Snivellus' sword. Said he wasn't about to let Slytherin be bested by Gryffindor," Remus provided.

"Tough. We're gonna cream them in the first match of the season." James frowned. "That still doesn't explain why I'm in my bed."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Evans wanted to bring you to the Hospital Wing, but we couldn't because we'd get in trouble for Muggle duelling. Brought you here instead. Evans fixed you up a bit. Read it straight out of a book."

Sirius added, "You would've been out for longer if she hadn't. It's only the day after. Frank's making sure no one comes up."

"Evans?" James asked confusedly.

Sirius gently turned his head, and Evans sat back in a chair, arms crossed, knee bouncing.

"Hullo," he chuckled. "Bet I don't look decent, do I?" His hand jumped to his hair.

"You look horrible. Well, if that's all, I'll be leaving." She rose and crossed to the door, glancing around quickly before closing the door behind her.

"What...?" James asked confusedly.

Remus laughed. "She was bloody brilliant. When Avery did that, she caught you and practically dragged you all the way up here while we yelled at Avery and Snivellus. Got you in here by the time we were done. Took control like _that_." Remus snapped his fingers.

Sirius nodded emphatically, "Had us change you into pajamas, didn't feel comfortable doing it herself, then she snitched a book from one of the seventh years training to be a Healer, fixed you right up, and levitated it back into the girl's bag. Then we made her stay until you woke up, to make sure you'd be okay."

"Bloody brilliant," Peter echoed. James blinked and made to sit up again. Remus shoved him back down.

"No. You stay in bed."

"But I'm _HUNGRYYYY_."

Sirius grinned widely and bragged, "We convinced Peeves to show us where the kitchen is! We brought food. Evans didn't approve at first, didn't know where or how we got it, but she didn't eat dinner so she caved."

James barely heard the last part. He was too busy trying to wolf down a plate of toast while laying down.

"Can't... Believe... Slimy... Slytherin... Coward," James said through his food. At least, those were the only comprehensible words, even to himself.

"We are going to get some stuff to do. Evans said you should be able to walk around safely in time to go down to lunch."

"Brilliant. What time is it?"

"... Four in the morning."

"What?! Oh Merlin, now I feel horrible."

"What? Why? Is it your head? Your stomach? Where does it hurt?"

James smirked a bit a Sirius. "No, nothing like that. It's just, I kept you all up this long."

"Don't worry, mate, we can handle it. 'Sides, it's Sunday."

* * *

Later, James staggered down the seven flights of stairs to the Great Hall. Before walking in, he straightened up and made an attempt to walk normally. When that failed, the Marauders all put their arms around each other's shoulders and walked in lie that, hiding the fact that James needed support to walk normally.

James slid into his seat and leaned forward to talk to Sirius and Peter across from him and Remus. At least, that's what it appeared to be to outsiders; really, he was just trying not to fall over.

"So. Revenge. What should we do?"

Sirius pondered it, but Remus supplied an idea almost immediately. "We might need time. But I think it'll work." Remus laid out an elaborate prank he had been mulling over while James was out. James did his best to follow. His head kept spinning and his eyes swam in and out of focus, but he got the gist of it.

Remus had recently read a Muggle book called The Lorax, by a doctor named Seuss. He pulled it out of his bag and showed it to them. James was enthralled. It rhymed. It had funny pictures that didn't move. There weren't too many words. The Lorax had a gigantic fluffy mustache. It was amazing.

The prank was based on the Muggle book, which Remus dubbed a 'picture book'. They were going to decorate the Slytherin table to look like it had come straight from The Lorax. The time consuming part would be finding the correct spells. After lunch, they sprinted to the library, James clutching to one of their arms at all times, and delved into the books.

James took Transfiguration. Sirius handled Charms. Remus pored over the Potions shelves. Peter tore through Herbology books. Madam Pince, the new librarian, noted their newfound love of the library.

"What exactly," she hissed at them, "are you doing here."

James peered up at the woman who, at twenty four, already looked incredibly like a highly underfed vulture, with her unpleasantly hooked nose, her pale skin, and her black hair twisted up in a bun beneath her tall black hat. James couldn't help but notice her uncanny resemblance to Snivellus, though Snivellus was more bat-like, flapping about everywhere in his black Hogwarts robes.

"Well, miss," James began conversationally, "we're reading, you see, it's where you look at words on a page and then comprehend them."

She stared at them.

Sirius added, "You know, words? They're a combination of letters, to form a single, distinct, meaningful element of speech or writing that are usually are used to form a sentence, which is then used to form a paragraph, which leads to the makings of a book!"

Peter, very slowly, asked, "Do you follow?"

Madam Pince fumed silently, turning an unpleasant shade of red. _Not like Evans' hair._ _Her hair is a beautiful shade of wine red, and also crimson with a bit of gold and- _Jamesblinked. _WAIT WHAT? SINCE WHEN DO I THINK ABOUT EVANS' HAIR?_

He hurriedly returned his attention to the book he was perusing, to take his mind off of the slightly disturbing train of thoughts.

He read about turning cups into animals. They had done the reverse that year. The spell to turn a goblet into an animal was the same: one, two, three, _fereverto_. All you had to do was imagine the animal you wanted to Transfigure the cup into and voila! instant Barbaloot!

James took note of it and dove back into the book.

Madam Pince wasn't the only person to notice how often they were in the library.

"What are you four doing in here?"

James glanced up. "Well if it isn't Gryffindor's very own resident bookworm."

Sirius paused in his writing to add, "Don't mind him, Evans. Jamesie-poo isn't one to show his feelings to a girl."

"A very pretty girl at that," Remus contributed unhelpfully (in James' opinion).

Peter dealt the killing blow with, "Especially not a very pretty girl he has feelings for."

James blushed deeply and raised the book to hide his face. It didn't help when Evans sat at the table. "Where's your pet snake? Or have you finally decided to ditch him on there streets?"

Evans glared at him. He didn't have to see her to know; he could feel her emerald gaze burning twin almond shaped holes through his book. "He's busy."

"With his little Slytherin chummies?" Sirius queried distastefully. James chanced a peek over the top of his book to see Evans tense up.

She hesitated before replying, "Yes."

Remus closed his book. "You don't approve of them, do you?"

"No." She paused before continuing, "It started last year, when Sev told me he wanted to tell me a 'funny story'." She put the last two words in air quotes. "I said okay, and he told me about what he and his Slytherin friends did the day before, cause, see, I hadn't seen him all that day. They had found a tiny crup. A baby one. I started to think, 'oh, it did something funny like pee on someone's shoes' but he said..." She took a deep breath before rushing on. "He said that they tied it up and hung it upside down while they hit it with sticks and jinxes. He seemed disappointed when he said that Hagrid had come and stopped them. I went to Hagrid the very next day and thanked him for stopping them."

James blinked. "They really would do that? To a crup? But the most harmless thing about them is their tails!"

Remus appeared disgusted. "Well, he doesn't approve of me, now does he."

Evans shook her head. "Do they know?"

"No. Don't bring it up, please."

Sirius' head flicked wildly between the two. "What do we not know? You two aren't having a secret affair, are you?!"

James' head snapped up. He felt oddly betrayed. _It's because Remus didn't tell us,_ he consoled himself. But the rather annoying voice in the back of his head, the voice of reason, or, as James preferred to put it, the voice of treason, corrected, _NO, it's because it was with Evans_.

Peter whispered, "Remus, is this true?"

"But Reemie-pie, James has dibs!" Sirius added in hushed tones. James scowled.

"I do not."

"Sure you don't, bud, you keep telling yourself that."

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about, but Remus and I are not having a secret affair. What are you doing in the library?"

"Studying," they chorused. Which wasn't exactly a lie. They we're studying, just not for school.

Evans snorted. "And I'm queen of England."

"You certainly could be," James supplied helpfully. "With your attitude, you could challenge her for the throne any day."

She snorted again, and Peter cut in, "But not if you keep snorting like that. Highly unladylike."

Evans narrowed her eyes. "We are _not _amused," she joked with a perfectly straight face. The boys cracked up. "Well, if you're _studying_, as you claim, you wouldn't have any scruples with showing me what you're reading." The shrugged and handed her the books. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Need help with anything? This is a bit more advanced stuff. I've been working at it a bit, actually..."

James brightened. "I was actually trying to figure out this thing with the goblet-into-animal spell. Is it just with real animals, or can you use fake ones too?"

Evans pondered it for a moment. "I dunno. Let's see, shall we?" She pulled a steel cylinder from her bag.

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's like a portable cup. Muggles use it when they need to go somewhere fast and haven't gotten their coffee quite yet. Now, here we are. Fereverto," she spoke, tapping the mug thrice. It transformed into a strange animal that seemed to be half horse half fish. She quickly Transfigured it back.

"What was that?" Remus inquired. Remus had a fascination with magical creatures.

Evans smirked. "Hippocampus. Greek mythology." She then left, taking her portable goblet with her. James stared after her.

"Did she just help us with our prank?" he asked incredulously.

"Unknowingly."

James didn't let that bother him. That was just an unimportant detail. The big picture was that _Lily Evans_ had just _helped_ figure out a spell for a _prank_ on the Slytherins, including her 'best friend'.

James wasn't sure how he felt about that. About Snivellus being Evans' best friend. He didn't know their history, only that they had known each other before Hogwarts. But still. She could do better than him. When he brought this up to his friends, their replies weren't very helpful.

Remus: "Maybe she just can't see him the way we can. She might be trying to see only the good in him. Or we're just trying to see the bad, so we missed something." James highly doubted that.

Sirius: "Maybe it's like a pity thing. She feels bad so she's waiting to break it off with him when she's found a reason that's clear to him as well why she's ditching him."

Peter: "Maybe she just knew him before, and isn't willing to let go."

James was highly unsatisfied.

* * *

A few mornings later, they merrily made their way down to breakfast. James was back to normal, Quidditch season was starting in a few weeks. And their prank was set for today.

They all sat in a row, facing the Slytherin table. This in itself was odd behavior for them, but no one took notice. They raised their wands and cast a charm on the goblets that linked them, a handy but difficult spell that Sirius had discovered. Then Sirius linked James' goblet to theirs, so that James could Transfigure his into a Barbaloot. James stowed his away as soon as he did, but the Slytherins weren't so lucky.

Shouts rang across the Great Hall as green-and-silver clad students dropped furry bear-looking creatures. Remus levitated a potion over to the table discreetly and let it pour all over the food. No one noticed; they were too busy with the Barbaloots.

Then Peter whispered a spell and the effects were instantaneous. Shooting out of the food were large, fluffy, sucker trees that had striped trunks and fluffy tops. James grinned. Truffula trees.

The Barbaloots were ecstatic. They clambered over plates and people to climb the trees. James knew exactly why. The Truffula trees had thes little fruit growing from it that the Barbaloots seemed to love. Everyone roared with laughter, except the Slytherins- and the teachers.

He grinned at McGonagall's disapproving face. Flitwick was admiring the wand work. Slughorn seemed to be trying not to laugh, and his belly was jiggling with the effort. Sprout was feeling a Truffula tree on awe. Kettleburn was inspecting a Barbaloot. Clarity was staring off into space. James' favorite one, though, was Professor Dumbledore. He was smiling as he tickled a Barbaloot, before picking it up and seating it on his shoulder. James raised his glass to Dumbledore briefly, and he could've sworn that Dumbledore winked back.

* * *

A week and a half after their little stunt, and it was still the talk of the school. That, and the upcoming Quidditch game. All in all, James was receiving the spotlight with open arms and a charming smile. The other Marauders were gladly welcoming their newfound fame as well. It got out that Remus was the brains behind the endeavor, which made him an instant celebrity. Sirius' and Peter's involvement made people fawn over them.

Currently, at Hogwarts, Marauder was the thing to be.

And, of course, Marauders were extremely exclusive. James was strolling to the lake for his free period, chatting with Sirius. Up ahead, Evans was approaching a small group, Hestia waiting a little ways off. A group that contained Snivellus and his snake friends. James felt a cold sense of foreboding wash over him.

There weren't many people in the corridor. Just the Marauders, the snakes, the Evans, the Hestia, and the few stragglers.

James nudged Sirius, but he didn't need to. Sirius was already watching the students nervously. Remus was tense on his other side, and Peter whispered, "Oh, Merlin, no."

They continued to walk. Evans tapped Snivellus on the shoulder, and they turned.

"Hey, Sev, I was just wondering if you might like to meet me later in the library, to study," she asked pleasantly. If James didn't know better, he would've thought that she didn't mind the other Slytherins.

Snivellus declined, "No, sorry, Lily. I'm busy later."

"Oh, ok." James relaxed as they stepped past. No trouble.

Avery sneered, "Besides, he doesn't need a filthy little mudblood like yourself." James whirled.

The awful word rang in his ears as his fist made contact with Avery's nose. _MUDBLOOD, MUDBLOOD, MUDBLOOD_, a voice sang tauntingly. Avery staggered back, clutching his face, and James' fist was wet with blood that wasn't his own.

Sirius hissed and whipped his wand out, as did Remus and Peter. Hestia shrieked, "You vile little- How _dare_ you?!" Snivellus gulped and did nothing. Evans looked confused.

Professor Prewett flew around the corner. "I heard shouting- What the _devil_ do you think you're doing, Mr. Potter?"

James spluttered, "He called her a- He said- Called her a-" His words were incoherent from his hatred. _MUDBLOOD, MUDBLOOD, MUDBLOOD_, the voice chanted. James tried to silence it, but it continued to mock him with the word he knew he could never say.

Professor Prewett's eyes widened. "You. Escort Mr. Avery to the Hospital Wing. Twenty points from Slytherin. I will be having a word with Professor Slughorn for this infraction." The Slytherins all trooped away with Avery, sulking and hissing things like, "blood traitor" and "Muggle lover" over their shoulders. Professor Prewett continued, "Five points from Gryffindor for Muggle fighting. Five points, however, for protecting a classmate. Good day to you all." He spun on his heel and walked away.

James realized that Snivellus was still present. He was about to turn on him, but Sirius beat him to it.

"I thought you were her friend!" he hissed, looking venomous.

Snivellus protested, "I am!"

"Then why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you defend her?" When Snivellus didn't reply, Sirius snapped, "Is it because they're your friends?" Snivellus remained silent. "Okay, your group of powerful pure-blooded friends are more important than your _best_ friend. I get it. Wait, no I don't."

"I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND!" screamed Evans.

James shot Hestia a pointed look. "We _are_ going to tell her now, there's nothing you can do about it."

Hestia nodded while Evans demanded, "Tell me what?"

James turned back to her. "Remember our conversation over the summer? The one where Sirius wanted to tell you something, but Hestia wouldn't let us?" Evans nodded. "Well, I want you to understand something. There are wizards in our world," he began, "who think that they're better than _everyone else _on the planet, the universe even, because they're what they call 'pure of blood'," he spat unforgivingly. "And they look down their noses at everyone else, because they can trace their Wizarding ancestry back until the times when Hogwarts was founded. And farther. And other people can't. Either they're what's called a half-blood. They have one pure blooded parent. Or they're like you. They're Muggle-born."

Evans exploded angrily, "What does that have anything to do with what just happened?!"

"Everything!" Sirius retorted. "Now shut up and listen!"

James continued as if their exchange had never existed. "Those of us who are pure blood and marry Muggles or Muggle-borns, or who defend them, they call us blood traitors. I come from a family like that. I'm proud of it. But they can do so much worse than say 'blood traitor' with a nasty look and maybe a well placed hex. They feel that purity of blood is everything. Everything. So, naturally, they had to come up with a disgusting little name for Muggle-borns. Hence, 'mudblood'. Mudblood is a horrible name for people like you. For Muggle-borns. Because apparently," he hissed bitterly, "they aren't as worthy as pure bloods are of learning magic."

"Which is absolutely ridiculous," Peter muttered.

Remus added, "Exactly. They haven't yet invented a spell you can't do as well as any one of us, if not better!"

Evans was silent for a second before turning on Snivellus. "You lied to me! You told me that it didn't make any difference being Muggle-born!"

"I didn't want you to worry!"

"Well you could've at least told me the truth! If not then, then after we had gotten settled in!"

Remus stepped in with a murderous look on his pale, peaky face, one like a hungry, hurt animal. "You mean to say that she asked you straight out if it made any difference and you _lied_ to her?"

"Stay out of this, Lupin!"

"Why should he?"

"He isn't a part of this?"

"Isn't he, though?" Evans snarled, a mutinous expression written across her face. "At least they were honest with me!"

"Did they tell you about this before now? No!"

Remus roared, "I thought she knew! I thought you cared enough to tell her!" at the same time as Sirius and James bellowed, "We tried! Hestia said that she didn't need to know yet!" and Hestia, in her defense, screeched, "I was going to tell her today! I decided today was the day, but it looks like your _friends_ beat me to it!"

Evans yelled, "SHUT IT!" They fell silent immediately. "If we don't be quiet we're going to have another professor find us, and not all of them are as loose as Professor Prewett! So can we PLEASE just leave? This is wasting my free period!" With that, she spun on her heel and stalked away, Hestia in tow.

James glared at Snivellus one last time, as did Sirius and Remus, and they stalked away as a group. Peter hissed, "Git," over his shoulder as they made their way to the lake.

Evans and Hestia were perched on the large boulder that jutted out over the lake. James climbed up the beech tree to get a better vantage point. Remus and Sirius were already up there, and Peter was scrambling up just behind him. They crouched behind the foliage and strained their ears.

"Lily-"

"Go away, Sev."

"But Lily-"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Lily, I-"

"Sev!" She leapt to her feet angrily. "There's nothing to discuss. Just go hang out with your FRIENDS." With that, she sat down and pointedly ignored him. Snivellus remained rooted to the spot. Sirius grinned wickedly as Remus drew his wand from his robes.

"This," the pale boy hissed softly, "is for lying and hurting her, you slimy little prat. Cantis." A wisp of near-transparent light flew from Remus' wand and washed over Snivellus. The Marauders nearly fell from the tree out of uncontrollable laughter.

Snivellus had burst into song.

Hestia was roaring with laughter, and it seemed as though Evans was trying her best not to join her, but James did see her smile the tiniest bit. It killed James to see Snivellus, looking highly confused, singing Celestina Warbeck uncontrollably. James actually fell out of the tree, but Remus and Sirius caught him in time to hoist him back up before anyone noticed.

Not that they would've. There was a huge crowd of spectators, laughing as Snivellus tried unsuccessfully to stop himself. He stuffed his fist in his mouth, clamped his teeth shut, but it wouldn't work.

After, say, five minutes, James and the others grew quite sick of it. After all, Snivellus had a horrible singing voice. Sirius cast the counter jinx and the crowd dispersed shortly thereafter. Snivellus ran for the castle, and Peter deemed it safe for them to jump down.

Evans didn't look up when they joined the two girls. "No matter how much you may deny it, I know it was you, Potter."

"On the contrary, Evans, it was _not_ me."

"Right."

"No, really!"

"Black, then?"

"Why do I get blamed for everything?"

"... Pettigrew?"

"Sorry, Evans, nope."

"Remus!" she gasped. "I thought you were the reasonable one!"

"No," Sirius said. "He's the logical one. Pete's the sneaky one. Jamesie-poo is the adventurous one."

"Then what are you?" Hestia inquired skeptically.

Sirius smirked. "I am the brilliantly handsome one that all the ladies love!"

"Sure."

"What? It's true!"

Evans regarded him. "You know that saying? The one that goes like 'only his own mother could love him'?"

"I am the opposite of that, Princess TigerLily. I am the one that _everybody_ loves _except_ my own mother."

"You seem so proud."

"I am so proud."

"Why would you be proud that your own mother doesn't love you?"

Sirius regarded her interestedly before replying, "Because I don't want to be related to people like... Well, like her."

Hestia asked, "Why, what's she like?"

When Sirius remained silent, both girls scooted closer and rested their elbows on their knees and their head in their hands. "She's like those people that Jamesie-poo was telling you about earlier."

"Oh." Evans was silent for a moment before rising to her feet and sprinting away.

Hestia looked after her before excusing herself, "I should go after her. Excellent charm work, by the way, Remus, that was brilliant."

The boys stayed out for a bit before trooping up to Gryffindor Tower. James paused before closing the door, staring at it.

"What's up, James? Door got your goat?"

James ignored Sirius, inspecting the ornate sign on the door reading _SECOND YEARS_. He whipped out his wand and severed the sign from the door, and crudely carved _THE MARAUDERS_ in the spot where it had been.

"Well done, James," Remus praised sarcastically. "Always wanted my door to have two words carved into it looking like they were written by a five-year-old."

"Shut up, Remus," whined James, shoving him while Sirius and Peter snickered.


	12. A Furry Little Problem

"Remus, how come you're not staying?" complained James.

Remus sighed exasperatedly. "I _told_ you, I've got to go visit my mum."

"But it's Jamesie-poo's first game!"

"I'm sorry! I have to go visit my mum!"

Peter pleaded, "Can't you stay, just a bit?"

"No, Pete, my mum is ill-"

"Oh, come off it!" James scoffed. "We already know that it's just an excuse to hide the fact that you're a werewolf," he joked cynically.

Remus froze. "Wh... What?" He appeared stricken as he whispered, "How'd you find out?"

Sirius froze. "Wait, you're actually a werewolf? We were just joking..."

Suddenly, everything began to fall into place. The wolf Patronus. Getting peakier every month, disappearing at seemingly random times of the month. The reservedness. The way he chose his words carefully. How he never seemed to talk about life at home. His knack for healing cuts from duels that were magical, not easily fixed. His face, horrified, when his Patronus had been a wolf. His response later when they had asked him to practice with them. The murderous expression when he got mad. The way his mouth was clamped firmly shut when they play fought. His almost animal hunger for rare meat...

Remus gulped. "Are... Aren't you going to run now?"

"What?" James gasped.

"When people find out, they try to ditch me, they run screaming, or they try to let me down nicely. It's always better when they run screaming. Please run screaming."

They stared at each other, motionless. Peter then broke the stillness by striding forward confidently and... Giving Remus a huge hug.

James grinned. _This is why he's in Gryffindor_, he thought proudly as he joined the dog pile. Sirius jumped on afterwards.

"I told you, I wanted you to run, not let me down nice!"

James laughed, "Your lycanthropy doesn't bother us."

"Yeah, mate, we're your best mates. We wouldn't leave you like that."

Remus scowled. "Quit pulling my tail. You can leave if you like."

Peter crossed his arms stubbornly and told him, "We will not. We will stay right here this whole time."

Sirius followed with, "Who else knows?"

Remus scuffed his toe against the carpet. "The staff, my parents, the Healer they took me to when I was first bitten..."

"And...?" James prompted impatiently. Remus mumbled something incoherent. "Sorry? Didn't catch that."

Remus became very interested with a knot in the wood of his bedpost. "Well, you see, I tried to be discreet about it, but she's really quite brilliant, figured it out in a jiffy, really..."

"Who?" asked Sirius eagerly.

Their wolfish friend cleared his throat uncomfortably. "A certain little red head figured it out about a month and a half before you lot."

Peter gasped, Sirius tripped while standing still, and James yelled, "You're JOKING. She found out before we did? We're your best mates!"

"When?"

"That day in the library, when she asked me to talk?"

Sirius' eyes widened. "Oh duh! And when she asked if we 'knew' and you said no! We were thinking you were having a secret affair, remember?"

"Vividly."

"Wow," James breathed. "I can't believe it took us this long."

Remus sat on his bed dejectedly. "I still think you're kidding."

"With what?"

Remus angrily leapt to his feet and argued, "Why aren't you leaving me? You can if you want to, I'll understand if you do."

"But, Remus, we don't want to leave, so we won't!" Peter insisted just as adamantly.

Sirius pointed out, "Evans found out, she didn't leave you."

"She's different!" cried Remus, pacing tensely.

James retorted, "How? What does _Evans_ have that _we_ don't?" When Remus didn't reply, he continued, "Is it because she's a girl? She's smart? She's kind? She's gentle? She's funny? She's pretty? What is it about her that makes her so different from us?"

Remus whirled about and stuck his face right in front of James'. "It's because she understands what it's like to feel different from everyone else! Even though she didn't know why, she knew that some people refused to like her! She thought it was just her! She thought she was alone!" he exploded angrily. "She felt the same way as I did, and that's what makes it easier for me to accept that she won't push me away! Because she gets what it's like, and none of you do!"

Remus was breathing heavily, quivering with rage. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the Hospital Wing. Good luck, James," he added curtly before stalking out the door, leaving Sirius, Peter, and James dumbfounded in his wake.

James had never seen Remus like that. Never. He had always been one to sort it out with a soothing, calm voice. James was always the ones to go off like that. Sirius had always been laid back, letting it roll off of him without much thought. Peter would always ignore whatever it was pointedly. But Remus? Remus sat down and fixed it.

James scrambled after him, pulling on his Quidditch robes and hopping down the stairs on one foot, pulling on his boots. Then they ran after him.

"What the devil are you three doing here?" Madam Pomfrey asked sharply. She stood in front of the doors to the Hospital Wing. They were shut firmly.

James gasped for breath hurriedly. Sirius caught his breath first, and choked out, "We just... Wanted Remus to know... We still want... To be his friends."

James nodded and added, "And... I want to make sure... That he can see the... The Quidditch pitch from his... From his hospital bed."

"And... Tell him... That we're going to... To visit him in the... Morning, and after... The game, whether... Whether he likes it... Or not," Pete concluded. Madame Pomfrey stared at them for a moment.

She seemed to remember that it all existed. "Very well then. Off you go. Mr. Potter, don't you have a Quidditch game to win?"

The boys nodded enthusiastically before running off again, this time to the Quidditch pitch.

They met Hestia and Evans on the way. They were hurrying towards the stands.

"What do you three think you're doing?" Hestia hissed. "The game's about to start!"

"Just... Just seeing Remus off," panted Sirius, shooting a meaningful glance Evans' way. She nodded imperceptibly before turning to Hestia.

"Well, we really should go. Oh, and Potter?"

"Finally decided you want to go out with me?" James asked, smirking.

Evans smiled innocently and answered, "No, just wanted to tell you to break a leg?" She skipped away.

James gaped for a moment before asking no one in particular, "Now why would I do that?"

"It's a muggle saying," Hestia apologised. "It means good luck." Hestia then ran after her with Sirius and Peter, leaving James alone to reach the changing rooms.

James arrived just in time to pull his broom out of the cupboard in the Gryffindor changing room and park himself next to Timmy and Delilah.

"Potter! Almost late," scolded Wood.

"Sorry, Bobby. Won't happen again."

"Don't call me Bobby."

"Okay. Bobby."

"Tell me, Potter, do you plan on remaining on this team?"

"Yes, Bobby, of course I do."

"Then don't call me Bobby, or Bob, or Robby, and don't be late."

"Yes, sir."

"We have an understanding, then?" he confirmed.

James nodded so hard his glasses bounced around his face. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now. As you know, this is the first game of the season. And we have three new players. And, as good as they are, Slytherin's team is the same as last year's. Basically, that means that they are either rich kids whose daddies paid to get them on the team, or they're thugs who'll do whatever it takes to win. Those ones are the ugly ones."

"I beg to differ, sir," interjected Timmy.

James agreed, "He's right. They're all ugly."

Wood grinned. He actually did. "Right you are, boys. I should have said, they're the ones who knock people off their brooms and take their Beaters' bats and whack the other team's Chaser upside the head. Do we want that?"

"No!" the team shouted.

"Exactly. So, we have to be better. Which we are. But we have to prove it. We've got to whip 'em so hard they'll be cowering in their changing rooms next match against us, like the cowards they are!" roared Wood. "Show them what we've got, yeah? We have to prove that we are faster, more talented, and more inclined to working as a team! We will beat them so bad that they'll be wishing they're six feet under instead of sixty feet up!"

"Yeah!"

Wood regarded them with fierce pride. "Let's get out there, then, and show them what Gryffindors are made of!"

The team marched out of the tent in excellent formation, just as Wood had taught them. "Show them our pride!" was his only explanation. Captain in front with the Seeker and Keeper behind him. Then the two eldest Chasers. Then youngest Chaser and the other Beater in back.

They were met with cheers and whistles.

James couldn't resist when he saw his friends jumping up and down in the front row of a sea of red and gold. He saluted merrily, but he was still a little upset that Remus wasn't in the stands too. Sirius was brandishing his camera. James rolled his eyes at that. _More pictures for the scrapbook_, he thought sarcastically, YAY...

Madam Hooch, leaning on her upright broom, instructed, "Now, I want a nice, clean game. From all of you. Captains, shake hands." James watched as the Slytherin Captain, seventh year Bradley Nott, attempted to crush Wood's hand. To Wood's credit, he didn't flinch, grimace, or give any acknowledgment that he noticed it in any way. Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air.

James watched it anxiously as it spun, reaching the peak of its ascent, and the announcer yelled, "The Quaffle is released... And the game begins! Gryffindor Chaser Delilah Woods, that's with an s people, takes possession of the Quaffle, passes it to Timmy Johnson, who throws it to Gryffindor's youngest player, James Potter! Quaffle gets thrown to Delilah, then to Timmy, and- INTERCEPTED by Slytherin Chaser Evan Rosier. Darn. Passed to Jonathan Yaxley, passed back to Rosier... BUT ITS INTERCEPTED by James Potter! Timmy, Delilah, James, Delilah, Timmy, James, GRYFFINDOR SCORES TEN NIL!" Cheers from red-clad supporters nearly drowned out the announcer's next words.

"Yaxley takes possession, passes to Thorfinn Rowle, passes to Rosier, INTERCEPTED by Delilah, passes to Timmy, throws to James- Rabastan Lestrange sends a Bludger in young James' direction, James fumbles but keeps a grip on the Quaffle! Passes to Delilah, Timmy, Delilah, she shoots, she SCORES!" Cheers again. "Twenty nil to Gryffindor!"

The game passed like that for the better part of two hours. The score was 170-30 when Greg caught the Snitch, making the score 320-30. The Gryffindor team was carried off the field by a wave of scarlet and gold. No one really cared when one of the team dripped mud on them. James quickly showered and changed, then rushed away to find Sirius and Peter.

Sirius showed him the pictures. James laughed at the sight of Evans literally hanging out of the stands, watching as James scored, then jumping up and cheering for Gryffindor. Then she returned to hanging over the side. Then they raced to the Hospital Wing.

Remus sat in bed, arms crossed, his face stony. "You know, James, I don't appreciate sitting in a levitating bed for nearly two hours."

James rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it was my first game, and I wanted you to at least be able to watch it..." He trailed off when he noticed that Remus was grinning like crazy.

"Excellent, that first goal. Commentary a little dry, not a ton of opposing action, but all in all a well played game of Quidditch. By Gryffindor, at least." James grinned at his friend and sat down on the edge of his bed.

Sirius joined him, and softly assured Remus, "Well, you won't have to sit here twiddling your thumbs all day any more. We're going to sit right here with you as long as we can, whether you like it or not. Is that understood?"

Remus scowled at them. "I told you, I don't want you to try to be nice to me. I don't want to be just another charity case. I'm going to ask if I can just go home after this."

Peter jumped. "What? No! You can't leave! You're our best mate! You're Remus Lupin! You're the logical one! The brains behind our pranks! You're a Marauder!"

"So?" Remus argued. "You can keep prancing about without me."

"No!" James insisted, "The Marauders need four people. And there's no replacing."

Remus yelled, "Why are you three so bent on hurting me? Why not just me straight with me? Why not spare my the pain? Why won't you just GO?!"

Peter froze, and whispered, "People actually do that? They actually leave you?"

"Why does that seem so surprising?" Remus spat bitterly. "You guys are going to do the same thing anyways."

"No," James importuned, "we're not. It's just shocking that people would leave you. I mean, you're an brilliant bloke, really. I can't believe people are prejudiced like that. It's sick."

"Oh, so you're not?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"No!" Sirius insisted obstinately. "Do you see me telling muggle borns to kiss my shoes when they walk by me in the corridors? Do you see me strutting about in Slytherin, like my mum wanted, do you see me gushing about Voldemort like Bella does? No! I am not the kid my parents wanted. That's Regulus' job. I. Am. Not. Like. That. We ARE going to stay, whether you want us to or not, so just deal with it!"

Remus glared at him for a minute before muttering, "How come I got stuck with three best friends that are so pig-headed?" James cracked a grin at that, and they stayed and talked for a bit before Madam Pomfrey ushered them out.

They all hurried to the library. James thought, _It's shameful, how much time we've been spending in the library._

"Come on, we've got to find as many books as we can about werewolves," Sirius whispered. "The hag keeps some lists up front, there might be one for werewolves. Let's go check." They walked forward casually, and, seeing a slip of parchment that was clearly labeled _WEREWOLVES_, he snatched it up and briskly left to the Defence Against the Dark Arts section.

"Okay, let's see then..." His eyes briskly roved over the list before he tore it in thirds, handing a piece to Sirius and Peter each and kept one for himself. Then they roved the shelves, pulling books that they needed. When they were done, they repaired the parchment and replaced it before checking the books out from a suspicious Madam Pince and lugging them back to their dormitory.

They spent the rest of the day poring over the books. They stayed up through the night, ignoring Frank's protests of, "Go to bed!" reading chapter after chapter, describing not only the characteristics of werewolves, but went into meticulous detail of the transformation. One writer described it as "rival to the Cruciatus curse itself". James shuddered at the prospect of not only experiencing this extreme pain every month, but also knowing what the Cruciatus curse felt like, to be able to compare them? He couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like for Remus.

Howls rang across the grounds, sending chills through James' spine.

* * *

The next morning, they tripped over themselves in their haste to visit Remus. Once again, the doors were shut tight.

"Let us in!" James howled, pounding at the door furiously. Sirius joined him, as did Peter, their fists glancing off of the door painfully and loudly.

Sirius bellowed, "If you don't let us in, we'll-"

"I suggest you do not finish that threat," Madam Pomfrey scolded dangerously. James gulped. The usually calm, kind, young medi-witch looked livid.

Sirius bravely countered, "Threats are for people who are afraid to act."

"Now, I suggest you let us in, or Sirius may fulfill his unfinished promise," Peter supplied helpfully.

James added, "And we'll have no problems in assisting him." Madam Pomfrey sighed heavily before leading them into the pristine Hospital Wing. James marveled at how every surface shone brightly. _She must spend all of her free time cleaning_, he thought, slightly disgustedly. He couldn't imagine having to spend _all day_ cleaning. It sounded horrible.

She led them to a curtain, behind which James was positive Remus' bed lay, then walked to her office. James poked his head around the curtain. Remus was sleeping. He seemed so peaceful, if you just looked at his face. But even then, you would have to look past the three scars running parallel across his face, diagonally.

James had to choke back a gasp. Remus was bloodied up really bad. Scars ran all over his arms, his legs, his bare chest. That's where it seemed to be the worst- his chest. Stark white bandages were wrapped around his torso, and there were streaks that blossomed with red. His arms were laced with claw marks, and his legs had holes from long, sharp teeth. His finger were raw, probably from trying to escape wherever it was that he was kept.

"Oh Merlin, Remus, why'd you do this to yourself?" James whispered, even though he knew the answer. He had read las night that, during his wolffish state, a werewolf locked up and alone would attack himself to satiate his hunger for blood. Remus had no choice. He had to do this to himself, or else risk biting another human and bestowing his curse on someone else.

He seated himself on one side of Remus' hospital bed, Sirius on the other, and Peter was perched on the end. Sirius softly sang, "Remus, wake up, Remus. Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey!" He continued to cajole in a hushed voice until Remus groaned.

"Where's the snooze button on this thing?" Remus slapped groggily at Sirius' face, eyes still not open.

"What's a snooze button?" James asked.

Peter supplied, "Muggles have these alarm clocks to wake them up, and to turn them off you need a snooze button. My dad has one."

James nodded before turning to Remus and quietly answering his question, "Sorry, mate, but Sirius doesn't have a snooze button."

"Sirius?" Remus' eyes flickered open and he groaned at the sight of them. "I told you, I don't want to be a charity case. Just leave, and I'll be fine."

"Nuh-uh," Sirius protested. "No way we're leaving."

"Well why not?"

"Cause you're our best mate, and you need us," James answered defiantly.

Remus ordered, "Leave now and never return."

"No."

"I'll never get rid of you, will I."

"Nope!"

Peter timidly put himself forward. "When...?"

"Did I get bitten? Well let's see... Should I tell you? You already know too much, and if I tell you you have to promise not to tell."

"Promise."

"Never a word."

James grinned. "I solemnly swear."

"That's binding, James. I may not be a Marauder anymore, but you still are."

"You're still a Marauder."

Remus ignored Sirius and began his tale of woe. "My father met my mother in the woods on the outskirts of a muggle village. He had heard her scream for help and rushed to her rescue. She had met a boggart in the woods, you see. He banished it quickly and assured her that it was only a boggart, but she is a muggle. He gave up and agreed with her that yes, it was very lucky that he had been there to save her, even though he knew that it wouldn't have done her any harm physically. Not to long later, Miss Hope Howell became Mrs. Lyall Lupin. She didn't leave him when he told her the truth about the boggart a few months after their marriage, and they were soon _blessed_ with a child." Remus spat the word 'blessed' and carried on with his story. "They named him Remus John Lupin. Four years after his birth, Lyall Lupin was promoted. Promoted to join the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Now, part of his job is to interrogate those who have attacked someone or several people using magical creatures. A man speculated to be a werewolf was brought in for questioning for attacking muggle children. This man was amazed by all of the magic. He was a muggle. Lyall Lupin was not so easily fooled, though. He recognized some attributes of a werewolf's human form in Fenrir, and insisted that he be kept prisoner for one more day, for the next day was a full moon. He was laughed at by his colleagues, who assured him that Fenrir was, indeed, not a werewolf. They told him to stick to Welsh boggarts. After all, that's what he did best, wasn't it? It got him a wife. Lyall Lupin, while usually shy and mild-mannered, grew angry with his colleagues for ridiculing him. He insulted werewolves, calling them soulless, evil, and deserving of death. Fenrir was released, the Ministry still believing him to be a muggle. But he wasn't." Remus laughed cynically. "Oh, he was as far from a muggle as a dragon from a puffskein. But he had no wand on him when he was taken to the Ministry, and his clothes were that of a muggle. He was convincing. And when he was released, he lost no time in telling his werewolf friends what Mr. Lupin had said. So, shortly before tiny Remus Lupin's fifth birthday, Fenrir Greyback forced his way in through the boy's window as he slept and mauled the child. Lyall and Hope heard the screams, and arrived just in time to save the boy. But he was cursed. After all, he had been bitten by a werewolf. He had to live with the burden for the rest of his life. And Lyall Lupin blamed himself for it wholeheartedly." Remus' story was finished in bitterness.

James breathed, "But it wasn't his fault. It was his Ministry colleagues, because they didn't listen to him."

"That's what I told him," Remus nodded sadly. "But he won't listen to me."

"Well at least you don't have to work so hard to hide it now," Peter assured him. "We'll help you keep the secret."

Remus sighed in exasperation and threw up his hands. "Do you want to get yourselves killed?"

Sirius inquired confusedly, "Why would being your friends get us killed?"

Remus shot him a look. "Because I'm a monster."

James gasped, "You're not a monster, Remus!" He shook his head violently. "No, you..." James paused to think before concluding, "You just have a furry little problem, is all."


	13. New Ideas

Sirius clucked, "Jamsie-poo, you need to thank her."

"No!" James protested weakly.

Peter scolded, "James, that's not good manners. Especially to a lady."

"Especially to your one true love," added Remus, grinning evilly. James threw a pillow at his friend.

"She is _not_ my one true love!"

"Sure," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes.

It was nearly Christmas break, and James hadn't yet thanked Evans for, as Sirius dramatically put it, 'saving him'. James had as of yet been adamant on not thanking her. To him, it was a sign of weakness. Timmy had overheard their argument on his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, and poked his head in to assure James that it was, in fact, not a sign of weakness, but one of strength.

James had rolled his eyes and pushed the fifth year Chaser all the way down to breakfast as he protested, "No, really! It takes true strength to admit defeat!"

"James," Sirius warned, "if you don't go thank her today, I will tell Wood to make sure that you do drills all day at practice on Monday instead of practicing games like the rest of the team.

James gasped. "You wouldn't."

"He would," Remus insisted earnestly.

"I would," confirmed Sirius smugly. James gaped at the three of them incredulously before giving in to their stubborn faces.

"Fine. If I come back in a matchbox, you know why!" James threw over his shoulder as he stormed out of the dorm, down the stairs, and through the castle.

He had been in high spirits not too long ago. Hufflepuff had, against all odds, won their match against Ravenclaw. That meant that Gryffindor didn't have to play Ravenclaw unless they beat Slytherin in their match in January, which would knock Hufflepuff out of the running, since Slytherin had beat Hufflepuff. But then his friends just _had_ to forcefully bring him back to earth by remembering that James hadn't been gentlemanly enough to say, "Thanks for shortening the time I was out!"

And now he was looking for a petite, red-headed girl.

It wasn't long before he ran into a group of Gryffindor girl so that happened to be friends with said petite, red-headed girl. "Hey, do you know where Evans is?"

The girls burst into giggles, except Hestia, who stepped forward and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"I've got to thank her for something," he said, casting a nasty look over his shoulder at Gryffindor Tower.

"Well, in that case- will you all just shut it? Sorry bout that- she's in there library."

"Why's she in the library?!" he queried.

"She's Lily," quipped Mary McDonald, "who knows why she does anything?" James nodded to the small brunette and turned to run back into the castle.

"Thanks!" he called over his shoulder before diving into the Entrance Hall.

He blinked a few times before setting off again, to adjust to the dim light inside Hogwarts castle. He sprinted into the rows of books, searching desperately for a head of wavy red hair. When he spotted her at a table with Snivellus, he boldly sat down on her other side.

Snivellus glanced at him with a sneer. "Do you mind?" he snapped.

"Yes, I do, in fact. It would be brilliant if you could leave."

"Potter," Evans hissed dangerously. "What do you want?"

"We," he said, raising his eyebrows meaningfully, "need to talk."

"Whatever you need to say," she replied coldly, "can be said in front of Sev as well."

"Well, no, not really. It's kind of, how do you say, delicate information." She glared at him for a bit until her eyes widened with understanding.

"Oh, okay. Sev, I'm just going to head back up to the common room really quick, I'll be right back."

They briskly walked to a deserted corridor, and James glanced around before pulling Evans through the nearest door.

"Really, Potter?" she snapped irritably. "A broom cupboard?"

"Yeah, well, would you rather be in the common room where people can hear us?" Evans considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "I thought not. First, I never thanked you for fixing me up before anyone noticed that I was out."

"That's okay," she replied with a shrug. "I want to be a Healer anyways, it's good practice."

James rolled his eyes, though he doubted she could see it in the darkness. "Maybe I should duel more often then, you can tend to my wounds. I'll be your practice dummy. Anyways," he continued, ignoring her glare, "Remus."

"I think it's horrible, his, condition, let's say-"

"I call it his furry little problem."

"That makes it sound like he's got a badly behaved bunny rabbit!" exclaimed Evans.

James nodded. "My point exactly. Continue."

"Well, then, he won't tell me how his furry little problem came to be."

James whispered, "His father accidentally insulted a werewolf when he was frustrated because his coworkers wouldn't listen to him."

"Ah. Well, I was thinking about it, and I read that werewolves can only hurt humans. What if me and two of your 'Marauders' were to transfigure one of you to be an animal? So that we could make his transformations less painful, I mean. But then I decided that it would be stupid, we could end up dead, or worse, expelled, so then I thought maybe we could control some creature, send it there for us. It would have to be rather large, though, so that wouldn't work. I'm going to try and brew that Wolfsbane potion that was invented this summer, but it would take ages, because the potion has to be brewed exactly correctly, but it might make his transformations easier." Lily glanced up at James expectantly.

James stared at her for a moment before grabbing her face and kissing her forehead.

"Don't do that!"

Ignoring her outburst, he cried, "Evans, you're a right bloody genius! Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant! Will you marry me?"

"What the- NO!"

James rushed out of the broom cupboard, ignoring her yells of, "Potter! You get back here RIGHT NOW!"

He didn't give a second thought to the fact that she would most likely kill him for that little question.

He had much more important things on his mind.


	14. Making Remus' Idea A Reality

James rubbed his eyes blearily and groped about for his glasses. He still hadn't brought up his idea with Sirius and Peter, and felt it best that Remus didn't know until they succeeded, and not at all if Sirius and Peter didn't agree. After all, he would only worry and try to stop them.

He swung his legs out of bed and looked outside towards the darkness behind the window between his and Sirius' beds.

"_IT'S SNOWING_!" he yelled, diving towards his trunk. Last year, they had made a pact that the Marauders HAD to be the first people outside on the first snow day. It was long overdue, seeing as it was the first day of Christmas break. The other Marauders woke instantly, and no one cared about being quiet. Frank, as with most people, had left for the holidays.

James really had no reason to be home. His parents were always on raids. No matter when. His father had told him, when he was little, "Just because it's Christmas doesn't mean that Voldemort will stop." James' resolve was to be at Hogwarts for Christmas, with his friends, rather that spend Christmas alone (Ayleen got Christmases off) at home.

Sirius, from what James gathered, didn't even want to be with his family for Christmas. The way Sirius told it, his family hated him and the feeling was completely mutual. But James knew that that wasn't quite the truth. Despite his harsh words about him, Sirius still wrote Regulus every month, telling him that he would see him for summer and of their adventures. And, just before the closing of every letter, he added, "Mum and Dad were wrong about muggle borns. You remember that."

Remus' parents' anniversary was during Christmas. This was his way of letting them spend their anniversary together, for once without their lycanthropic kid to worry about. Also, it was the full moon during the holiday this year, and it was easier for him to be here than at home.

Peter had no reason to go home or to stay for the holidays. He was merely staying because the others were. James was thankful for that. He wanted to spend Christmas with his best friends.

Sirius' first words were, "Still moping about, Jamesie-poo?" James rolled his eyes.

"No," he retorted as he tugged on socks. "Why would I be moping?" He asked the question even though he knew exactly what their answer would be.

They had teased him about it all of yesterday. "Evans, don't leave!" "Princess TigerLily, Jamesie-poo will be _devastated_ without you!" "Think of the boy's sanity, Lily!" "You can go now, Evans." James had shoved her down the stairs and to the Entrance Hall before waving cheerily and walking away.

He heard Evans mutter, "Gee, I feel so loved," and Sirius' reply of, "That's cause you are!"

This morning, though James wasn't quite sure if it in fact _was_ morning, he was determined not to let their comments get to him. Why should they? It's not like he cared... Right? _WROOOOONG!_ sang the Voice of Treason. _Shut it_, replied James as he shoved the Voice of Treason into a broom cupboard and locking it tight.

They sneaked down the stairs under James' Invisibility Cloak and slipped outside the doors. Pringle, in his old age, had apparently forgotten to lock it.

James stashed the cloak in his jacket as they tiptoed towards the lake and quietly gathered in a circle.

"Alright, my fellow Marauders," Sirius commanded in an authoritative whisper, "this is it. Every man for himself. Only rule, no magic against others. Magic is only to be used for fortress building, and only if necessary." They all shook hands and silently began to prepare themselves.

James chose a sheltered spot on the edge of the forest, where a snow bank rose to four feet, and rounded it out before enlarging a tiny bucket he had stashed in his cloak before he had left the warm Tower. He rushed to the lake and scooped icy water from the shore. It hasn't been long enough for the lake to freeze over, but there were already several inches of snow on the ground.

He poured several bucketfuls of water over his fort, and it quickly froze so that his fort was extremely strong. He had hidden this fact from Sirius, Remus, and Pete, and dusted it over with a bit of snow before making snowballs by the dozens. James grinned to himself. He was ready.

Sirius waved his Gryffindor scarf to signal the beginning of the Hogwarts Snow Battles of the Marauders. That's what they had dubbed it, earlier that week. James tossed a snowball up in the air and caught it a couple times before cocking his arm back to throw it. Then he remembered what his father had taught him, during one of those rare Christmases when he was home. Never make the first move. That way you can gauge the strategies of everyone else.

Sirius struck the first blow, windmilling his arms as he scooped up handfuls of snow rather than making snowballs, but he had chosen a spot where the snow was slushy and wet enough for it to go far. And wet the victim thoroughly.

Peter went next. He launched snowballs randomly, eyes shut, and then ducked back into the protection of his fort. James smirked at Pete when one of Remus' well-placed snowballs exploded in said Pete's face.

Remus was calculated in his shots, and his fortress was built for defence. A sort of porthole in the middle allowed him to throw ammunition while still protected.

James responded to each of his opponent's methods accordingly. Sirius received several blows to his windmilling arms. Peter's fortress was destroyed when one of James' snowballs luckily hit a weak spot. And, for Remus, James pulled his Cloak from his pocket and snuck towards his cursed friend's fortress and filled the porthole with snow when Remus wasn't looking before diving back into the cover of his fort, whipping off the Cloak, and throwing snowballs at Remus, who was now forced to leave the safety of his fort to return blows, because James had been very careful to make sure that no one could tell where the porthole had been, so Remus couldn't do anything without risking knocking down his entire blockade.

_This_, James thought contentedly, _is what Christmas should be like._

And for once, the Voice of Treason had nothing to say.

* * *

"Ah, that was good, James," chuckled Remus after James had recounted his story of filling up the porthole. "Lot more strategy than I would've expected from any of you."

Sirius scoffed, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means," Remus replied smugly, "that I'm the brilliantly logical one here."

James laughed, shoving his friend playfully, when Sirius exclaimed, "Hey! We should make a sort of map of Hogwarts, so that we know exactly where all of the passages are."

Remus' eyes lit up. "Yeah! And I read about this spell that we could use on it, it's really advanced magic-"

Peter groaned, "More super duper advanced magic? Aren't we already doing the Patronus?"

Remus scowled. "You didn't let me finish! What I was _trying_ to say, is that this spell, when cast on a map, it shows you where someone is on the map, exactly when they are there, and what they are doing!" James gasped, pointed at Remus, and jumped up and down excitedly.

"What if we locked the map, you know, so that only we could read it!"

"And anyone who didn't know the password and tried to make the map reveal it's purpose," Sirius added joyfully, "would trigger this thing where the map would say something that WE would say to that person!"

"But," pointed out Peter, "wouldn't they know if it was us?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Nicknames."

"We need to know _our _Patronuses for that to work," snapped James, gesturing between him and Peter. During their weekly lessons with Professor Prewett, James had nearly produced a clear Patronus, Peter was well on his way, and Sirius' was quite obviously a large, shaggy dog. The Anti-Grim, James had joked, because of its silvery form.

"Try it, then." Remus watched closely as James pulled out his wand, took a deep breath, and pulled his happy people crowd to the very front of his mind. "E-Expecto Patronum," he stuttered.

"More clearly," Remus instructed. James screwed his eyes shut tight and spoke the incantation louder and clearer. They all gasped as a large, silvery animal thundered silently out of James' wand and cantered around them gracefully.

"Is that..." Sirius murmured, "a doe?"

"No," Remus corrected sternly, "it's a stag."

Sirius insisted, "No, it must be a doe. It's male, see?"

"Exactly. It's a stag."

"No! A stag is a female deer!"

Remus sighed. "Sirius, a stag is a male deer. A doe is female." Sirius' eyes widened, and his mouth formed a silent 'oh'.

"Pete, it's your turn!" James prompted jovially. Finally, he had produced a Patronus! He was quite happy with it, too, despite Sirius' misconception. Stags represented pride, grace, and strength. These were things, James liked to think, he had in abundance. He was sure Lily would agree with pride, but would insist that rather than strong and graceful he was weak and klutzy. _Why do I care?!_ His thoughts paused for a moment. _Since when did I think Lily?!_

Peter tried again and again, and, finally, when the sun began to set, a tiny creature slinked out of the wand.

"... A rat?" Sirius wondered.

Remus considered it before musing, "Well, rats are small and sneaky, kind of like you, you know?" Peter nodded as the rat snuck beneath one of the beds before dimming to nothingness.

"Remus, you first," James announced, flapping his hand at his peaky friend.

Remus stared at him, confused. "What?"

"We need to decide your nickname. Leave," Sirius ordered. Remus shrugged and hopped down the stairs to the common room.

James pondered it for a moment before declaring, "Fluffy!"

Sirius snorted, "Remus would kill us. And remember what we agreed last year? Messers. Fluffy, Blank, Blank, and Blank, Purveyors of Aids to Mischief Makers Everywhere? That wouldn't sound even remotely cool on the map!"

"Fine," James whined loftily. "But I don't see any of you coming up with any ideas."

"Remember how odd his Patronus was? It seemed to have these little darker spots, and it was always seemed to mirror the moon's shadow. If the moon was half full, then the Patronus would be a shade darker on the side that the moon was dark."

James blinked at Peter's sudden perceptiveness. Sirius exclaimed, "Oh! I know! Moony."

Peter nodded enthusiastically, and James nodded slowly, thinking it over, then sped up as he realized the unexpected brilliance of Sirius' suggestion.

"Yeah, that works," he muttered, "that's great Sirius. Surprising that it was you to come up with it."

Sirius scowled playfully, snapping, "I take offense to that!"

James grinned as Peter dashed to trade places with Remus.

"Well?" Remus asked, sitting down heavily. "How bad is it?"

Sirius stuck his tongue out, "Nyuh," he hummed before replying, "You shouldn't be so rude, Moony."

Remus blinked. "Moony? Seriously? What prat thought of that one?!"

James snickered, "The prat that looks ready to kill you for that comment."

Throwing his head back, Remus laughed before saying, "Peter. The Patronus is a rat. What are some of the physical characteristics of rats?"

Sirius began to list, "Fur, small eyes, tiny feet, nakedy wormy tail-"

"That's it!" James crowed. "Wormtail!" The others gaped at him like _Are you insane?_

James was about to protest for his case when Remus spoke up, "Yeah, that's great, actually. Messers. Moony, Wormtail... Sirius, go away, no one loves you."

Sirius looked stricken. Remus'- no, Moony's- eyes widened in shame. "Oh, buddy, I didn't mean that..."

James knew exactly why Sirius' reaction was so hurt, even if he didn't understand the way Sirius felt. Of course, a boy who had lived his entire life loved from afar couldn't even begin to comprehend the feelings of a boy who'd spent the same amount of time hated up close and personally. Even though Sirius claimed to hate his family, James knew that growing up unloved as Sirius had was hard and Sirius' one and only known weak spot. The problem was, everyone knew about the weak spot, and dealt with several jibes from the hated snakes about how he was a traitor to his family. Sirius was strong enough to put up with insults from his enemies. But comments like that from his friends? Not even Sirius could have enough resistance to stand it through.

Sirius gulped. "I know, you don't have to apologize, I'll go fetch Peter, shall I?" he muttered hurriedly as he scrambled to his feet and jogged out the door.

James glared at Moony, who sighed, "I know that was tactless, James, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing." James nodded and shifted on the floor. His rear was getting sore.

Peter entered the room and Remus waved cheerily. "Wormtail, buddy. How ya doin'?"

Peter cringed. "Wormtail? That sounds gross."

"Oh, so now you're a five year old girl?" James snorted.

"No, I just managed to retain a shred of dignity that is now fled for its life," retorted Peter hotly. James shrugged and started off the meeting the same way Remus had began the previous one.

"Let's see, the characteristics of dogs. They're fluffy, cute, loyal, and smell when they get wet."

"Sounds like Sirius!" Remus joked.

James, scandalized, gasped, "_YOU THINK SIRIUS IS CUTE?! I NEVER PEGGED YOU AS A-"_

"Shut it!" hissed Moony, clamping his hand over James' wide open mouth. "I meant as a general thing. I honestly can't believe he hasn't noticed the girls padding after him everywhere, I mean seriously, how thick-"

"_PADFOOT_!" Peter announced. "Cause dogs have padded feet..."

James grinned and Moony nodded. "Yeah!"

Wormtail whispered, "Hey, Moony! Wanna know what Jamesie wanted to call you?"

"What?" Moony asked. "What did he want to call me?"

James leapt to his feet and crossed to the door. "Well, I'll fetch Padfoot, shall I?" As he shut the door behind him, he heard Remus roar, "_FLUFFY_?!"

James hastily scampered downstairs. "Sirius, buddy, you can go on up now."

"Tell me what my nickname is!" he begged, swinging his feet down from the back of the couch.

"Nah-ah-ah," sand James teasingly. "You have to go up."

Sirius pouted playfully and bounded up the stairs. James gulped as he heard the door slam loudly, causing the few people to jump and shoot withering looks in the direction of the Marauders' dormitory.

_I hope my nickname isn't something totally and completely stupid..._ he thought nervously. He could imagine Sirius'- no, Padfoot's face when his new name was revealed. In his mind's eye, his best friend's angular features, usually relaxed in an amused, slightly haughty expression, were contorted into a scandalised one at the degradation of his 'manliness'.

James snorted at the thought of Sirius' fantasy of being manly. His outer appearance was just about as masculine as a thirteen-year-old (Sirius' birthday was October 30, making him the oldest Marauder, since Remus- _Moony_ was born on March 10, James was March 27, and Wormtail- _YES, I DID IT!_- was born August 4). But, inwardly, Padfoot was about as manly as Hestia Jones.

Meaning, not at all.

Of course, James wouldn't _say_ that, neither would the other Marauders. In fact, the only person who _would_ say such a thing without fear of being hexed into the next millennium was Li- Evans. This was because Sirius would defend himself profusely, even at the accusation "you care too much about your hair". He would most likely say, "Any self-respecting _man_ would take the time to ensure that his hair is healthy and shiny and amazing and perfect and well groomed and hygienic!" Actually, James had heard this argument before, and it was so touchy a subject that no one dared bring it up. James assumed Lil- _EVANS_ was waiting for the perfect time.

James watched the clock, which was a bad idea, but he had nothing better to do. The seconds ticked by impossibly slowly, and no one came down after five minutes. James began to panic, thinking that there wasn't _going _to be a nickname for him.

But, after exactly eight and a half minutes, a tiny... Thing... Flew down the stairs and landed on James' knee.

It was a tiny paper bird. It held a tiny piece of paper in its tiny beak. James pulled it out of the mouth and unfolded it. In Remus' neat printing, it read,

_HEY, JAMES. COME UP. I KNOW YOURE CONFUSED AT WHY WE DECIDED TO SEND FOR YOU THIS WAY. WE WERE ALL TOO LAZY TO COME GET YOU. IT TOOK SO LONG CAUSE 'SERIOUS' DECIDED TO MAKE THIS LITTLE 'ORIGAMI CRANE', HE CALLS IT. SO YEAH. COME UP. -MOONY. NOT FLUFFY._

James grinned at the sign-off and sprinted up the stairs.

"You spelled Sirius wrong, you know that right?"

Sirius gasped in indignation as Remus replied, "Quotes. Implying that I was doing a play one words. I was being sarcastic, you dolt."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that. What've you got to throw at me?"

Sirius regarded him mockingly. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I can handle anything you've got."

Remus cleared his throat. "I came up with your name, because I thought it was only fair that if _we_ all had stupid nicknames, _you_ had to have one too."

James groaned as Sirius pointed out, "Yours could've been a whole lot worse."

Remus scowled in annoyance. "Yeah, I know." In an undertone, he added, "Fluffy, my butt."

James, catching this, countered, "It probably is, during the full moon..."

"Shut it," snapped Remus. "As I was saying, since we all have dumb names, you need one too. So I came up with it." Remus got to his feet. "James, kneel."

Confused, James did as he was asked. "One knee," Remus instructed. James became more confused as he did so, thinking, _IS HE GOING TO MAKE ME PROPOSE?!_ Thankfully, Remus did not. What he did do, however, was draw his wand, causing James' hazel eyes to widen with fear behind their wire-rimmed glasses. As it slashed through the air towards him, he thought, _OH MY MERLIN, HE'S GOING TO DECAPITATE ME. I'M GOING TO BE CAPUT_. The wand came down to... Rest on his shoulder, tapping it lightly before moving to his other one and then to his head while Remus declared, "I, Sir Moony Marauder of Second Year, dub thee Sir Prongs Marauder of Second Year. Rise, fellow land pirate, and sit among us."

James plopped down on his rear and scooted to sit between Sirius and Peter. "Prongs? Like... A fork?"

Sirius and Peter snickered, though James thought that Wormy was just doing so to agree with the others, while Remus rolled his eyes, "_No_, Prongs like antlers." Remus mimed antlers, his wand still in his hand.

James shrugged. "Okay. Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers Everywhere, are Proud to Present...?"

"The Marauder's Map," Remus clarified, pulling a piece of parchment from his bag.


	15. Christmas With The Marauders

**Normally, I wouldn't do this. But this is an emergency, absolutely and positively an emergency. Something went wrong, so I couldn'to edit this chapter the way I wanted to. For instance, the breaks. I just pressed return twice, so a large gap between lines is what that is. And I couldn't make italics, so that's what the all caps are. I'm sorry about the wait, I really am... For those of you who haven't thought to look at my profile (shame on you.) school started not to long ago and I have been really busy. I've started chapter fifteen though! Please enjoy chapter fourteen and criticize and praise and all that good stuff! -M**

"Okay, so I was doing a bit of research-"

"REALLY, Moony?"

Remus- now Moony forever and always- scowled. "Do you want to hear the amazing things I discovered or not?"

Sirius- no, James reminded himself sternly, Padfoot- balanced his chair on two legs and drawled, "Depends. Does this discovery have anything to do with James' love triangle?"

"I do NOT have a love triangle!"

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with PRONGS' love triangle, which DOES exist. Now can I tell you?"

James frowned. "Not until I understand where this 'love triangle' germinates from. Cause I don't see your reasoning."

Peter muttered, "Well, you like Evans, and Snivellus likes Evans, and Evans hates you and sees Snivellus as nothing more than her best friend-"

"I do NOT like Li- Evans!"

Sirius gasped as his chair toppled backwards. From his position sprawled on the carpet of the empty Gryffindor common room, he accusingly pointed a finger in James' direction and hissed, "You nearly called her Lily! I know you did!"

James turned to Remus quickly. "So what's this discovery?"

"I'm debating telling you and passing up this chance to tease you about your obvious love for Lily Evans, or not tell you and let you wallow in your grief, frustration, and stupidity."

"The former would be nice."

"Fine," sighed Remus dramatically. "I'll tell you. So, I was doing a bit of research, see, for our map. And I came across this potion that, if we sprinkle on it, it will not only tell us who and where people are, but it'll show what they're doing and in detail. It kind of goes with that charm I told you about, just last week!"

"Wait," Sirius interrupted, scrambling to his feet to set his chair right. "Really?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "YES, really. And, if you forget one of the spells for the secret passage ways, it'll tell you what to say. But the potions takes forEVER to brew... And we might have to snitch some ingredients from Slughorn. And we need someone to draw the map..."

Sirius piped up, "I can. I can't draw people, but I can draw a straight line... I can draw the map, easy."

James nodded. "Okay... I can do any of the wand work, Peter can snitch the ingredients, and Remus can brew the potion. Now, we're gonna need a really big piece of parchment..."

Remus slumped in a hospital bed. The stark whiteness, nothing like the serene landscape outside the window, seemed to be hurting his encircled eyes. James felt so horrible, seeing his friend like this and knowing he couldn't do anything about it.

Well, that wasn't exactly true, but James still had a lot of things to work out before he even considered bringing up the idea with the others.

Madam Pomfrey left them, instructing them to eat, even if it involved forcing the food down his throat. They had learned last month that Remus had next to no appetite after his transformations.

Remus ate the first plate without complaint, and James left to go get more.

When he returned, Sirius assured him, "No need. He's full."

James' eyebrows flew up to meet the tips of his hair. "Oh?"

"Yeah. He's full enough that his buttons will pop."

James scoffed as he glanced at Remus, who was nodding vigorously and fighting a smile. FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE, THERE, REMUS. "Sirius, are you THICK? Remus is so skinny that the EXTRA small is loose on him! Still is! How could you POSSIBLY fall for that, Sirius?!" Sirius had the decency to look ashamed as James plopped the tray in Remus' lap. "You will eat or you will die."

"But Jaaaaaameeeeess..."

"No but Jameses. You will eat or I will kill you until you're so dead you won't even be able to return as a ghost. Do you understand?"

"Yes..." sighed Remus as he shoveled food into his mouth. James smirked. No matter how much Remus protested, James knew that he would eat if he had to. Moony finished his plate and handed Peter the tray before slumping back into his large, fluffy pillows.

Padfoot glanced at Moony before clambering to his feet, grunting, and walking over to the food cart. He then grabbed a chair, positioned it in front of said food cart, sat, and proceeded to stuff his face.

Remus looked on with disgust. "You know, Moony, I usually watch what I'm eating."

Sirius looked up, chewing. "So do I!" he replied earnestly, making Moony and Wormtail wrinkle their noses at the newly exposed chewed up food. "Otherwise, I'll miss my mouth!"

James rolled his eyes and snorted while Moony gagged and Wormtail closed his watery blue eyes and counted slowly. "One... Two... Three..." When he got to ten, he opened his eyes hesitantly before huffing, "Darn. I was hoping it was all a horrible nightmare."

"HEY!"

"No offense," James snickered, "but he has a point."

Sirius scoffed, or at least tried, because he choked and caused Madam Pomfrey to rush in from her office and scold him for being daft as she escorted him to the potions cabinet and tipped the murky contents of a blue bottle down his throat.

"La da dada da da da, la da dada da da da..." Padfoot sang absentmindedly. He was fiddling with his quill, devoutly resisting Moony's request that he actually do his homework BEFORE the day it's due.

"C'mon, Padfoot..." he whined. "I don't wanna get in trouble with McGonagall again for 'not reminding' you to do your homework all the way!"

Padfoot replied, "But MOONY... It's so BORING... I can't believe we ACTUALLY have homework during Christmas break! It's supposed to be a VACATION, for Merlin's sake! Two heavenly weeks to get AWAY from school! It is SO NOT FAIR!"

"Get this," Remus snapped, "through your thick head. Life. Isn't. Fair."

"Don't you think I know that just as well as you do?!" hissed Padfoot. "At least your family loved you!"

Remus stood abruptly, knocking his chair over. "Maybe they love me, yeah, but that means they feel GUILTY every freaking full moon because they think it's THEIR fault! At least you don't have to see them glance at you forty two times a day- and I've counted, twenty one for each of them, it's like they're on a schedule- like you're going to drop dead at any moment! So my life was at least as bad as yours, if not worse! So shut your face and do your homework!"

Sirius stood and shouted, "So we're back to homework, huh? Was that the whole point of guilting me? So I would do my HOMEWORK?!"

A crowd of laughing Gryffindors began to queue around their small table in the corner. OF COURSE, James thought bitterly, THEY THINK THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF OUR PLAY FIGHTS.

He had to intervene. "Woah there, let's just calm down and think rationally for a moment-"

"Think rationally?" Moony snapped incredulously, rounding on James. "Since when do you want to THINK RATIONALLY?!"

"Since my best mates began fighting over something as stupid as a piece of homework!" roared James.

"Yeah? Well, get this Prongs," hissed Padfoot. "This isn't your problem, so stay the heck out of it."

"I will not!" retorted James. "It became my problem long before this started, so you just simmer down and let me try to think this through! And you!" He whirled around to face the people watching what they thought was all good fun. "There's nothing to see here, go away!" They flinched back and slunk away, casting resentful looks over their shoulders.

Remus crossed his arms angrily. "Padfoot, you need to GROW UP a bit and accept responsibility for something rather than lean back with a stupid smirk and watch everyone else do your dirty work for you!"

"Yeah, well you need to loosen up a bit, Moony," Sirius spat, "or you'll be so tightly wound you're going to blow a head gasket!"

"Like you care! All you care about is food, yourself, and your hair!"

"No, I care about a lot of things! The top of that list being you three!"

"And why would WE," Remus demanded, gesturing at himself and the other two marauders, "be at the top of this list?"

"Because I never had a FAMILY before you!" bellowed Padfoot. "I had no one but Andromeda, and she's been engaged for three years! The only time I ever spent with her, I was helping her do wedding plans. Wedding plans! She barely paid any attention to me after she got engaged. You three are the only family I've ever had, so of course I care about you guys the most!"

Remus skeptically asked, "And why am I included in this list, even after your knowledge of my condition?"

"Because your freaking condition doesn't matter an owl's pellet to me or to any of us! We've discussed this!"

James had had enough. He huffed and kicked his chair to the side before stalking out the portrait hole and wandering blindly.

"Watch where you're going!" he hissed as he walked into someone. "Oh, sorry Evans, my bad."

"No kidding," she retorted. "What's got your beard in a twist?"

"I haven't got a beard," James replied confusedly.

Li- Evans rolled her eyes. "It's an expression, dolt. What's on your mind?"

"Oooooh," James breathed in understanding. "Well, M- Remus told P- Sirius to do his homework, cause he kept procrastinating. And they got into this STUPID argument about whose life sucked more. I got sick of it."

"This is a real argument, yes? Not one of those dumb ones like the one that triggered the sword fight-"

"No, it was fake- of course it was real! I don't get sick of the fake ones!"

"Just asking!"

"So I'm just taking a breather..."

Evans nodded. "Well, I should probably stay here for a bit, avoid the shouting..."

"Smart move." James watched as Evans sat down. He then heavily parked himself next to her. She frowned and scooted away, causing him to scoot towards her more. Not that he wanted to be close to her, of course. He was only doing this to annoy her.

Soon, Evans was cornered, but she attempted to squish herself into the wall. James grinned as he came closer, her discomfort erasing all thoughts of what awaited him in the common room.

Evans got up and huffed at him. "Why do you take pleasure in my discomfort?"

"Because you make funny faces."

"You're funny faces."

"Your funny faces suck at being a face," James retorted.

Evans snapped, "Your face sucks at being a face."

That sobered him up a bit. "That wasn't very nice."

"Neither is making me uncomfortable," she countered. "You're lucky I didn't hex you."

James rolled his eyes and clambered to his feet. "Wanna sit with me at dinner?" he asked casually, brushing off the back of his robes.

Lily eyed him skeptically. "You mean, with the Marauders?" she demanded.

"No, I mean you, and me, and some steak, maybe a candle or two-" he was cut off by her shoving him into a wall. "Sorry, sorry," he asserted, his eyes crossed as they focused on the wand pointed at his nose. "I wanted to invite you and Hest and the other girls to sit with us, meaning the Marauders plus Frank."

"Good," she replied curtly, pocketing her wand. "I wouldn't have wanted to curse your nose off." Evans spun around, her hair flicking him in the face. "I'd prefer not to get in trouble... And your nose is pretty decent."

DID SHE JUST... COMPLIMENT MY NOSE?

The thought gave him an odd pleasure, but her next words brought him down to earth.

"Think Remus and Black are still having a row, or is it over?"

James frowned. "I dunno... I'm going to go to the kitchens. I think that it's best to let them blow off steam..."

Evans' eyebrows quirked up. "You're not a people person, are you?"

"... What?"

She continued down towards the common room. "People like to be noticed and to be comforted. I'm going to go make sure they haven't killed one another. Full moon is in a few days, and right now? Remus' bite will already give Black some wolffish tendencies. And Black has always been stronger than Remus physically, so... Go enjoy the company of the house elves, I'm sure they won't mind you eating everything. I expect they can Summon more."

"Why couldn't they just conjure it?" James inquired.

He barely heard her reply. "Gamp's Laws of Transfiguration."

He had no idea what she was talking about, and his head spun as he walked down to the kitchens.

Remus and Sirius fumed for a few more days, but after the full moon, everything was forgiven- Sirius didn't have the heart and Remus didn't have the strength to continue being angry. James was relieved; he had felt as though he had been caught in a war zone. Even though Evans had relieved the worst of the tension, it still had hung thick in the air.

It all ended when Sirius force fed Remus the day after the full moon.

"Really, Padfoot," Remus protested weakly, "I don't want to eat-" his words were muffled by a large amount of eggs being forked into his mouth.

"You will eat and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Fine. James, read me the newspa-"

James grinned at his friend and shook the newspaper out and scanned it quickly. "You sure? It's nothing good-" He stopped with a sigh. "Sirius, what did I tell you about making faces?"

Sirius replied slowly, "I'm... Not making... Faces..." His face was contorting into weird, slightly motherly expressions as he fed Remus.

Remus grumbled. "Yes you are, and it's embarrassing. Prongs, please read the newspaper."

James silently sighed and began. His voice was heavy as he read, "Mass murderer and dark wizard at large: You-Know-Who is gaining power all over the Wizarding World. His followers, who call themselves 'Death Eaters', are terrorizing muggleborns everywhere. Just last week, the family of a muggleborn child suffered losses at the hand of Rodolphus Lestrange. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement reached the scene in time to witness the self-proclaimed Death Eater Apparate and wiped the survivor's memories. They are currently in St. Mungos, recuperating in an off-limits room." James swallowed and continued. "Lyall Lupin-" he stopped abruptly, unwilling to continue.

Remus' pale face became even lighter. "Go on."

"Lyall Lupin attacked by werewolf: Head of the Department of Magical Creatures, Lyall Lupin, was attacked last week by Fenrir Greyback. The Ministry refused to let anyone hear of this until today. An interview with the injured man on page 3."

"Go to page three," Remus demanded, his voice hard.

James flipped the page and cleared his throat. "Intern Rita Skeeter, age twenty five, interviews the victim of a werewolf attack. The victim, Lyall Lupin, was willing to share the details of his attack. 'I had dealings with Greyback before, eight years ago. He had everyone else convinced that he was a muggle, but I knew. He was registered, which made him angrier. This was phase two of revenge, I suppose.' He refused to share what phase one was, but was eager to share his condition. "While he was not transformed, as the full moon was last night, not a week ago, his bite was already dangerous. His bite has made it so I will have wolffish tendencies. I will not transform, but I will have small changes in my behavior such as wanting meat rare rather than well done, and slight aggressiveness when frustrated or passionate. Oh, and my emotions will be more raw, simpler. But otherwise? I'm just me. I hope my boy, Remus, is reading this, so that he doesn't worry. My wife doesn't read the Prophet, but Remus can Owl her. Healer Prewett said I should be okay to leave the hospital in about a week, and I need to stay at home for another week before returning to work. But after that, nothing is different. I'll always have the scars, but that's okay." Silence met the end of James' reading.

The thick silence was sliced by Remus' unfeeling voice. "Clip it."

James had no intentions of saying no. He pointed his wand at the paper and muttered "Diffindo." When he had clipped it, Sirius hollered for Madam Pomfrey.

She was annoyed. She had had enough of their antics over Christmas break, and it was a month later. "What?" she asked coldly.

Sirius stared right back and replied, "Remus needs an envelope and some parchment, maybe some ink and a quill."

"How come?"

"His father was hospitalized after being attacked by a werewolf about a week ago, and Mrs. Lupin doesn't know," Peter supplied timidly.

Comprehension dawned on her face and she waved her wand. The supplies needed zoomed in from her office, as well as a board to balance on Remus' knees. Remus thanked her, scrawled a letter, tucked it into the envelope along with the clipping, and Wormy ran to the Owlery.

March rolled around quickly, and James was filled with excitement. Their next game, against Ravenclaw, the last game of the season, was on March twenty seventh.

March twenty seventh was his thirteenth birthday.

He accosted Robert. "How come the last match is so early?"

"The majority of the students on all of the teams are fifth or seventh years. They need to study for OWLs and NEWTs." James huffed and grumpily walked away, but stopped when he passed Hestia, who was looking incredibly worried and clutching a newspaper.

"James!" she called, her face looking anguished.

He stopped. "What?"

"Did you read the paper this morning?" she asked cautiously.

"No, why?"

Hestia opened her mouth to reply, but James was dragged away by Sirius.

"Whaaaaaat?"

"Peeves wants to know the new password for the Slytherin common room," he hissed. James grinned and slipped his Cloak from his bag, whipped it around him, and snuck down to the dungeons, Sirius walking loudly behind him.

They saw some Slytherins approaching the spot of blank wall where they knew the common room was concealed.

"Hey! Snakes!" Padfoot hollered.

They groaned and turned. "What do you want, blood-traitor?" one of them demanded. They were a fifth year and a seventh year. The fifth year had replied.

"Hi Cissy. How's that friend of yours? That super girly seventh year? What was her name? Lucy?" he asked conversationally. "She talked about her hair quite a bit..."

The tall seventh year, with long platinum blond hair and grey eyes, cleared his throat. "Hello, Black. What brings you down here?"

Sirius grinned. "Lucy! My, has your voice deepened! I was just wondering where dear old Professor Slughorn was. He asked to see me..."

"In his office," 'Lucy' replied stiffly.

"Brilliant. Toodles!" Padfoot skipped away merrily, leaving Cissy and Lucy behind, rolling their eyes.

"I'm ever so sorry about that, Lucius..." Cissy murmured.

Lucius assured her, "It's quite alright, Narcissa. Now what was the new password again...?"

Narcissa cleared her throat. "Salazar." The wall ground open, and James grinned before silently leaving. He found Peeves trapping Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, in a large vase. He told him the password and hurried away to wait for Sirius in the common room.

"Well?"

"Done it!"

"Can't wait to see what Peeves' planned..."

Screams interrupted the peacefulness of the Great Hall the next morning. They echoed from the dungeons. The Marauders stifled grins and plastered confused expressions on their faces. Peeves was no where to be found. The Slytherin table was empty.

All of the professors were listening to the shrieks, except Slughorn, who was merrily eating crystallized pineapple before he realized that there were screams.

The screams got louder... The doors burst open... And seventy Snivelluses flooded into the Great Hall.

A shocked silence ensued, in which James, Padfoot, and Wormy tuned to Moony, who mouthed, "Polyjuice Potion."

Laughter bubbled up from the crowd, and the seventy... Snivelluses? Nah, Snivelli... The seventy Snivelli flushed one identical shade of ugly, dull red. All at once.

Moony whispered, "He must've poured a huge vat of it into the pipes... I bet Slughorn was planning on disposing of it anyways. But getting Snape's hair must have been..." He finished with a shudder, not completing his sentence.

He didn't need to.

The biggest laughs came from Gryffindor, of course. The Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry had been going on for centuries. After all, the Slytherins were everything the Gryffindors weren't. They were against what Gryffindor stood for. They were cowardly purists, while Grryffindors were brave, strong, and stubbornly absolute on their beliefs of equality among all people.

Not to mention that most Slytherins were filthy rich and respected other people who were filthy rich while Gryffindor didn't give an owl's pellet to how much money a bloke had.

McGonagall's burning eyes settled on the laughing group of boys, and the fire roared as she poked the Headmaster. Dumbledore turned his bright blue eyes on them, and James swallowed. He pointed at them, and then to the Entrance Hall. James nodded and got up, knowing that the others would follow. And they did. They waited nervously for their Headmaster and Head of House.

Dumbledore came in with a furious Minerva McGonagall and a confused Horace Slughorn on his tail. "You four," he instructed quietly. "Come."


	16. Trouble is The Thing That Floats

James rocked back and forth on his feet. Oh, was he in for it now...

"Horace?" Dumbledore asked.

Slughorn nodded. "Yes?"

"Did you bring the potion I requested?"

"Yes, sir, but why...?"

"Hand it to me, please." Horace pressed a clear flask into Dumbledore's thin hand. "Do any of you know what this is?" he asked, shaking the contents.

James was confused. Why wouldn't he? "Sir, why are you asking if I know what water is?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "No, Mr. Potter. Any one else?" He sounded like a teacher speaking to young children. It annoyed James slightly, but he let it roll off.

Moony piped up in a shaky voice. "It's Veritaserum."

"Whataraserum?" Padfoot asked.

Dumbledore, in answering, replied, "Well done, Mr. Lupin. Veritaserum is a truth serum, in fact the strongest type. Do you know why I have showed it to you, Mr. Black?"

Sirius shrugged. "Cause it's cool?"

McGonagall fought a smile as she replied, "No, Mr. Black."

Realization dawned on James. "You're going to make us drink some."

"What?" Sirius yelped, standing up so suddenly that his chair flew back and hit the door.

Peter protested, "How come?"

Dumbledore turned to Remus. "Would you like to answer that question, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus swallowed and whispered, "They think we did it."

McGonagall corrected, "No, we want to know why you did it, because we know it was you."

"But it wasn't!"

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore interrupted calmly. "Please open your mouth."

James clenched his jaw as his mind battled.

_NO! DONT DO IT! _hollered the portion of his mind that was Prongs.

The side of his mind the was reasonable, Mr. James, argued, _Do it. Prove your innocence to them._

_Just don't do it_.

_You have to._

LISTEN TO ME!

_Why should he? He always listens to you. It's my turn to save his rear._

_NO. DONT YOU DARE OPEN YOUR MOUTH, DONT YOU DARE- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

James had opened his mouth and let a tiny drop fall on his tongue. The feeling was strange, but surprisingly pleasant. A kind of sweetness spread from the spot to envelope him, and he swallowed.

"Now, Mr. Potter, would you kindly tell me if you did this?"

"I did not do that, Sir."

"Did you have anything to do with it at all?"

James flushed. "Yes, sir."

"So you know who did it."

"Yes, sir."

"Can you tell me?"

James felt the name on the tip of his tongue, threatening to spill out onto the ears of the professors in front of him. But he considered what would happen, and he couldn't do it.

"No, sir."

Dumbledore seemed mildly surprised, McGonagall was shocked, and Slughorn was... There really weren't words to describe it.

"No?"

"I am sorry, sir. I cannot tell you who did this."

Dumbledore steepled his fingertips. "Do any of your companions know the culprit?"

_YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YE-_

"No, sir."

Dumbledore studied him over his half moon glasses. James met his stare even though every particle of his being screamed to look away. He could feel McGonagall's stare burning into the side of his head, but he resisted the temptation to glance in her direction, even for a second.

He felt something push at his mind gently. He frowned, wondering what it was, but allowed it in. It explored his memories, and James could see what it was seeing. He could see the wretched Incident in first year, he could see the time he trapped Otis, the family owl, in a large vase and he could see when they discovered Remus' lycanthropy. And he saw the invisibility cloak, and him grinning at Sirius-

NO. He pushed the probie thingie in his mind away, he imagined it going out through his ear. For now he knew the thing, whatever it was, was working for Dumbledore, sifting through his memories to find out who the culprit was.

Dumbledore sat back, his expression slightly amused. "However amusing that may have been," he began, ignoring the shocked and angry exclamations from his fellow professors, "I must dock points for it. I know you didn't do it, but tell whoever it was that it was a brilliant prank. Forty points from Gryffindor." James scowled but said nothing. "Now, I think there is still pudding. If not, well, I'm sure you four will figure out how to get some."

He swept out the door, with Slughorn jiggling and McGonagall shaking with fury after him. The four boys stared after him before bursting out laughing. "I swear to Merlin," gasped Remus, "that he knows that we know how to get in the kitchens!"

"And he doesn't care?" Peter replied with an incredulous laugh.

Sirius, laughing his head off, reminded little Wormy, "I've always said... That Dumbledore dearest... Was off his rocker... Didn't I?"

James grinned. "Yeah. But he remains your hero."

"Forever... And always."

The four boys had told Peeves that Dumbledore, and themselves, thought it was brilliant, but after that, thoughts of Quidditch once again invaded James' mind. After all, Quidditch practices had become longer and much more pain-inducing.

"Okay, so Chasers," Wood panted. "Good job, but we'll have to try agin on the Hawkshead Attacking Formation... Katrina, make sure that you don't swing too early, or it'll go flying off course... Nasty little Bludgers... Jenna, Jenna Jenna Jenna. Please try not to fall asleep on your broom during the match against Ravenclaw. James, you keep flying to close to Dalilah. Timmy, you fly too far to the left. Dalilah, fly faster than them or it won't work correctly. Now let's try this again!"

James rolled his eyes and huffed quietly before mounting his broomstick. Wood heard and smirked at him; they all knew that, even though James was acting as though he was sick of all of the practice, he loved every millisecond of it, and was thoroughly disappointed when they were told to go shower, change, and go back to the common room.

"Alright... You guys did good today. Shower, change, go relax for a bit. Remember, meet me at nine tomorrow for practice!" The team trooped off to the locker rooms.

He was about to leave, but a soft hand with rough fingertips on his shoulder caused him to swing around to face Dalilah. "Um... Hi, Dalilah... What's up?"

"Just wanted to make sure you're okay..." she replied, her misty green eyes searching his face concernedly.

James scowled. He had been getting these questions a lot lately, not just from Dalilah but from Hestia, Alice Prewett, who was Professor Prewett's niece, McGonagall, and even tiny Professor Flitwick. "Yes, Dalilah, I'm fine. And I'd appreciate it if people stopped asking me!"

Dalilah didn't even appear fazed at his outburst. She merely nodded, gave him one last sad look, and left.

He stormed into his dorm, furious. Padfoot glanced up from his book and laughed. "What's got your beard in a knot, Prongs?"

James glowered at him. "I haven't got a beard, yes I know that's an expression, and people keep asking me how I'm doing! It's making me go loony, I swear!"

Sirius smirked, "Sorry, mate, but that reminds me... How're you feeling?"

"Why you little-" James rolled up his sleeves and charged towards his best friend, who squealed in a girlish fashion and held the book up to shield his face. James paused; he had never seen Sirius Black read a book by choice before. "What're you reading?"

Sirius blinked, then glanced at the book. "It's this muggle book called Treasure Island by some bloke named Bob Louie Stevison-"

"Robert Louis Stevenson!" hollered Remus from the bathroom.

"- right, him, and it's about this kid who's about our age and his dad owns a pub and one of their customers is some kind of sea captain. Right now, the kid is delivering some paper to the captain... So if you'll excuse me, I must read about some blokes killing some other blokes for treasure with none of that nasty romantic stuff."

Remus walked out, toweling his hair. "Romance isn't nasty as long as you're reading from a person who knows what they're doing. Like _Pride and Prejudice _by Jane Austen. It's about this bird who hates this bloke cause she sees him as arrogant and conceited and rich and all that, and at first he hates her back, but then he falls in love with her but she still hates him. At the end, she realizes her feelings and they get married... But it seemed so real, cause I've never thought that love at first sight really existed."

"Awwwwww..." Sirius cooed, his eyes never leaving the pages. "It's James' little love story told as fiction in the eighteen hundreds."

"Nah... I've always thought it was more _Aladdin_."

"I don't-"

"What's Aladdin about?" Padfoot asked interestedly.

"I'm glad you asked, Mr. Padfoot," Remus replied, smirking. "ALADDIN is the story of a young street rat who dreams of becoming rich. He meets Princess Jasmine, the daughter of the sultan, and falls in love with her and tells lies to try to win her over."

Sirius grinned. "Well, then, Mr. Moony, I really must agree with you; ALADDIN is MUCH better suited to our young lovers."

"I am not a lover!" roared James.

"Sureeeeeeeee you're not," Moony drawled, rolling his eyes.

Peter stumbled in, having tripped over the last step into their dorm. "What are we talking about?"

"Prongles' most fascinating love-life," Padfoot replied cheerily.

James defended, "Which is completely born of the imagination you three prats and which will stay that way forever and always."

"Right, Prongs," Wormy replied. "Of course it will." James scowled, but the others laughed.

"Shut your miserable faces," Frank grumbled from the pile of sheets that was secretly the Honorary Marauder When Necessary. "If James says he doesn't have a love life, then he doesn't."

"What're you getting at?!" Sirius barked in surprise while James breathed, "Thank Merlin for you, Frank Longbottom!"

Frank huffed and sat up, his brown hair sticking up like James' and his grayish blue eyes bleary. "Maybe he doesn't like this bird you're talking about-"

"Lily," Remus interjected helpfully.

Frank nodded, "Yes, Lily. If he doesn't like Lily right now, then he doesn't. But if you keep pushing and pressuring and drawing his attention to her, he's going to notice the little changes, like maybe she grows a bit, or she wears her hair differently, or she gets more freckles or whatever, and he's going to start to like her. If he starts to like her, he's not going to shut up about her. And when he IS quiet, he's going to be daydreaming and getting distracted from your brilliant pranks. And seeing as she hates him and thinks that he's only asking her out because he vowed to in first year, her rejections are going to make him moody and at some point she's going to go too far, and she's going to break him because she believes that this is all some dumb game, an ongoing dare. You guys are going to have to pick up the pieces, and you guys are going to have to deal with his broken-ness. Do you really want that?" On that cheery note, he flopped back down and resumed softly snoring.

James turned to his mates triumphantly. He could practically _see_ their cogs turning- Remus' were smoothly spinning, a well-oiled machine; Sirius' were rusty, squeaking, but slowly quickening; and Peter's, well... James could imagine the smoke from his brain pouring out his ears as the gears labored.

James clambered into his bed, not bothering to change. He could hear the others do the same, their springs creaking and the sheets ruffling, and Sirius turning the crisp pages- James knew exactly how he turned the pages. He would read the words quickly, then rub his middle three fingers against the page until it lifted, then he would flick it over to the other side. It differed from Remus' and Pete's and his own so widely. James thought it was funny how the little things people do tell you so much about their character.

For instance, Remus always read the page quickly, close to his face. When he finished, he would run his fingers lightly over the corner to lift it, before turning it and repeating the process.

Wormy would read slowly, laboriously, mouthing the words to commit them to memory. He would then lick his index finger, press it to the corner, and lift carefully, as though scared to damage it in any way possible.

James always kept his fingers on the corner of the book, running them up so that they would flick down as he passed the pages and returned to the bottom the as he read 200 words every twenty seconds. He would then stop when he was done and turn the page so quickly it would often tear. The top corner of every book he owned was gray brown from ink and dirt and oils from his finger.

He fell asleep thinking how amazing it was that the little things in life define a person; not how they act as a whole, but who they are for real.

As the week passed, and the game drew ever closer, James became increasingly frustrated. Slytherins would jeer and whisper as they passed in the halls, particularly Slytherins. Snivellus in particular. But Evans would always slap his arm lightly when he did this, whisper something, and he would stop. Hufflepuffs gave him pitying glances and occasionally candy. Ravenclaws would offer him assistance on his homework.

Gryffindors were the worst though. He could handle snide comments, he could handle charity-case-acquired chocolate, he could handle people asking him if he needed help in any of his subjects. But flanking him as he walked to class? Fighting his battles for him?

Just last week, some fourth year Slytherins had cornered him as he was walking to the loo and threatened to do some real nasty things cause he was a blood traitor and proud. Just as they pinned him, took his wand, and were about to hex him, Timmy Johnson appeared out of no where and told them, "Lay off him, slimy good for nothing snakes." They had walked away, casting murderous looks over their shoulders and muttering evil things.

The worst thing was, James had no idea why.

Hestia kept trying to tell him something, but every time she would start, either one of the boys would pull him away or one of the girls would clamp her hand over Hestia's open mouth and drag her away. Except Evans. She would sit on the couch and watch with concern and a bit of disapproval.

James focused on the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. Using his Cloak, he would watch their training and tell Wood, who was the only person on the team who knew of the Cloak. The others thought he was just really good at spying. He watched them train and studied their tactics with precision.

He spent almost all of his time with either the Marauders, Frank, or Wood- they were the only ones who acted as though nothing was wrong. They were the only ones who treated him like a person, not a poor creature who required their pity. But they would never tell him what was wrong. No matter how much he pestered them, their lips remained sealed when he brought up the subject.

The game was intense. Gryffindor, of course, won- Gryffindor always wins, because it's the best- but the match was close. When Greg caught the Snitch, the ending score was 300-140. They would have lost if Ravenclaw caught the Snitch, and they almost did. But Gryffindor won, as it should, because Gryffindor is Gryffindor, and- James found himself becoming repetitive in his thoughts.

The match was the talk of the school for the next two weeks, well into the start of exams. All play-by-plays radiated from Gryffindors' _exemplary_ Quidditch team, and as the story spread through the school, as though it were wildfire, it became dramatized. As a fire would, the story slowly turned to be more intense, the game more heated, the details more exaggerated, the little common arguments between players becoming violent conflicts that ended in bloody noses and black eyes and broken bones and a loud, sharp whistle blown.

James loved every second of it.

Because of the match, people were distracted.

Because of the match, he was a star.

Because of the match, he was no longer an ignorant charity case.

Because of the match, he was a real, living person again.

On the Wednesday morning two weeks after the match, he was chatting excitedly with his mates. For once, they weren't discussing the match. They were wondering what Professor Prewett had in store for them. After all, their DADA exam was just after breakfast.

Awed exclamations rang out through the hall. James glanced around him and saw several people looking up. He flung his head backwards and peered through his glasses. An owl was flying towards his face.

"Agh!" spluttered James as he ducked. The owl landed directly in his plate of eggs and tossed its beak to throw the letter in James' face before happily eating his bacon.

James frowned at the owl. This wasn't Sammy. Sammy was a tiny, energetic owl, with large amber eyes and fluffy gray feathers. This owl was huge, majestic, pitch black, with intelligently scrutinizing eyes and an attitude.

He knew this owl. But it had never come to school before. It was always Sammy.

"Whose owl?" breathed Remus in awe.

James replied, "Dad's." His voice came out slightly hoarse.

"Well, mate?" Sirius prompted gently. "Open it."

His fingers shook violently. So violently. It was almost comical. They had never used Avalar. Never. That was his father's personal owl for work only. Was something wrong with Sammy? James loved that owl. He had chosen it from Eyelope's Owl Emporium, he had named it when he was five years old, he had fed it and cleaned up after it and nursed it back to health when it was hurt. He stared at the letter in his lap for another minute before picking it up.

He slowly slit it open with a knife that left streaks of strawberry jelly on the envelope and pulled the letter out. It was most definitely his father's handwriting. Large, loopy, sprawling, but legible.

The letter crumpled in his fist.

His world imploded around him.

Every single jug, whether it be filled with water or pumpkin juice or milk or some other liquid, exploded at once with a deafening tinkling noise.


End file.
